British sprint star Zharnel Hughes is eager to do a real assessment of his current form when he opens his season at the 15th staging of the Camperdown Classic inside National Stadium today.

Hughes is expected to join a number of athletes from top clubs such as Racers, Akon and Sprintec in action, with a team from the Cayman Islands also expected to add more international flavour to the meet.

Action is scheduled to get under way at 8:15 am.

The 23-year-old Hughes, who had a fairly good outing last season, will contest the 400 metres, an event in which he has a personal best of 46.58secs.

“Preparations have been going really well; I’m happy with where I’m at right now and I’m sure my coach feels the same. But for now there are no real expectations, the plan is to see where I’m at in terms of strength, speed and endurance,” Hughes told the Jamaica Observer.

“My aim is to try and execute a good 400m race plan and remain healthy, so I’m looking forward to a good run. I know lactic awaits me after the race but it should be fun,” he added.

The Classics, the brainchild of former Camperdown High School Principal Cynthia Cooke and legendary track coach Glen Mills, has become a staple on the athletics calendar and provides a good platform for a number of senior athletes to assess their early season form, while complementing the high school athletes.

With the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships scheduled for March, the Camperdown Classics also allows athletes to register qualifying time for that five-day showpiece event which should treat patrons to some top-class performances.

Jordan Byles, who has done quite well at the junior level in the United States, as well as 12-year-old Adriana Kalymialaris from Finland are also expected to grace the track with their presence, alongside Jamaica’s top local high school athletes.

It is understood that Calabar High’s Christopher Taylor and De’Jour Russell could also be on hand to add to the excitement.

Along with the 400m for clubs, the increasingly important 400m hurdles, 800m, 1500m and the 100m complete the flat events, while the 4x100m and the 4x400m relays will provide additional thrills for patrons.

The high jump and long jump for classes one through three are the only field events to be contested.

Meanwhile, with renovation work being done at the Stadium East facility, organisers have made alternative arrangements to allow athletes warm-up space.

Warm-ups are expected to be done in the area above the cycle track beyond the finishing line and also in the area just below that, as well as at the 100m and 200m starting points.