It’s all systems go for the 15th staging of the Wesley Powell/Heart Institute of the Caribbean (HIC) Track and Field Meet, which gets under way at 8:30 am at Excelsior High School today.

The season-opening meet, which serves as an opportunity for coaches to measure the readiness of their athletes ahead of the track and field season, promises to be another exciting one with some 40 track and 36 field events on offer.

Over 40 schools and close to 1,400 athletes are expected to be on show and David Riley, member of the organising committee, is anticipating another successful staging, especially with the introduction of a few innovations.

“We should have another successful staging; we have introduced quite a few novelties where we are streaming it live throughout the diaspora, as well as free Wi-Fi for spectators and live results update.

“So there is quite a bit that we have been doing to improve on the experience, not just those who are there in the venue, but persons who are tuning in to the activities from all over,” Riley told the Jamaica Observer.

“So we are expecting a good day, the facility is well prepared and improved and I think the competitors will have a very good atmosphere to compete and see where they are at [at] this stage in the season. The entries are significant in terms of the normal numbers that we have seen in recent years, so it should be a good atmosphere,” he added.

The Wesley Powell Track Meet features seldom-run events such as the 300m, which is mostly used by 100m and 200m athletes to improve their strength endurance training.

Other events on the day will be the 150m, 600m, 1,000m, 3,000m, 5,000m, shot put, discus, javelin, long jump, high jump and the rarely offered pole vault. The highly anticipated 4x300m relay will also be contested.

The top urban area contenders such as Wolmer’s Boys’ and Girls’, Excelsior High, Kingston College, Jamaica College, and St Andrew High for Girls are expected to field strong teams, while schools as far west as Rusea’s High and far east as St Thomas Technical and St Mary High, among others, will also be making their presence felt.

Riley, who is the head coach at Excelsior High School, underlined the meet’s relevance and pointed to the significance of the two new Mondo long jump runways, which came as a donation from the 2017 IAAF World Championships.

The construction was financed by the past students of Excelsior and friends of track and field.

“The newest surfaces in Jamaica were laid, so it should be a good experience for those who are doing the horizontal jumps and we will be able to handle a lot more athletes with the two pits and the jumps happening simultaneously.

“Very few facilities locally have that, not even the National Stadium can do that, so we think it’s a significant move, which will continue to improve the quality of the meet,” Riley ended.

This year the meet will honour sporting legend Judith Ewart and sport organiser Ricky Bromfield.

Telecommunications partner FLOW Jamaica will be offering two laptops and scholarships to the top boy and girl at the meet.