Inaugural McKenley/Wint Classic highlights day of track
Three development meets will be on today across the island with the first staging of the McKenley/Wint Classic at Calabar High School taking centre stage.
Action will also be at Excelsior High School with the Big Shot Invitational, the North Central Development Meet at Discovery Bay, St Ann, and Central Hurdles and Relays at GC Foster College.
Most attention will be on the inaugural McKenley/Wint Classic with the newly laid synthetic track.
The organisers thought it was appropriate to name the event in honour of two legendary past students Arthur Wint and Herbert McKenley, who played huge roles in putting Jamaica on the map in the Olympic Games of 1948 and 1952.
Special awards will be given to outstanding 400m performances with the overall fastest times in the boys’ and girls’ categories, and the victor will be awarded the Arthur Wint trophy.
Also the top performers in the men’s and women’s 400m Olympic development events will receive cash prizes donated by the McKenley family and the Calabar Old Boys Association in New York.
There will be action in the 100m, long jump, high jump, shot put and all sprints and intermediate hurdles.
Meanwhile, Central Hurdles and Relays make a return to the circuit after a two-year absence with its seventh staging at the GC Foster College in St Catherine, starting at 8:30 am.
Athletes will get a chance to perform on the renovated track with hurdles for all classes along with the 4x100m, 4x400m and 4x800m relays on show. There will also be 60m, 200m, 400m and 1,500 flat events.
The coaches will receive prizes to recognise their hard work in making track and field a winner in Jamaica, based on their athletes’ performances at the meet.
The throwers will have a field day at the Big Shot Invitational at Excelsior High School with just three events to be contested in the javelin, shot put and discus. The meet is scheduled to start at 8:30 am and concludes at 4:00 pm.
The North Central Development Meet at Discovery Bay will see the inclusion of the 1,500m for the first time. Other events on the card includes the 100 metres, 400 metres, 800 metres, 3,000 metres, 5,000 metres, 4 x100-metre relays, discus and shot put.
