The first round of the 100m events will highlight today’s opening session of the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association’s (JAAA) CARIFTA Trials which is set to get underway at National Stadium starting 4:30 pm.

The first round of all four age groups — Under-17 and Under-20 for both boys and girls — will be run today as well as the 400m and 1500m events.

While it is the short sprints that will get all the attention, there is a possibility of some outstanding competition in the 400m, especially in the Under-20 boys where there is a handful of good competitors.

The three-day event will be used to select Jamaica’s team to the 49th CARIFTA Games that will be held April 10-13 in Devonshire, Bermuda.

It will be the fifth time Bermuda will be hosting the premier regional track and field championships and will be best remembered for being the venue where Usain Bolt broke his first World record, the 200m World junior record 19.93 seconds in 2004.

All four shot put finals are down to be contested as well, along with Under-17 high jumps and both Under-20 long jumps.

It will be the 100m sprint that will attract the attention with a number of interesting matchups expected, and with just the top-eight competitors advancing to Saturday’s final.

Pan-American Under-20 silver medallist Oblique Seville, who skipped his final year in high school to go professional and is based at the Racers Track Club, will start as favourite to defend his title that he won last year in Georgetown, Cayman Islands.

County of Cornwall Athletics Association (COCAA) Western Championships Class One gold medallist Conroy Jones of St Elizabeth Technical High (STETHS), the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association (NACAC) Under-18 100m gold medal winner last year, is also expected to factor in tomorrow’s final as well as the St Jago High pair of Javari Thomas and Kimarlie Stewart.

Two athletes who promised much a few years ago, STETHS’ Sachin Dennis and Kingston College’s Terrique Stennett will be seeking to get their careers back on line and make a good showing today.

Despite coming in with a season’s best 12.08 seconds, 18th best on the performance chart, Edwin Allen High’s Kevona Davis must be odds-on favourite to win the Under-20 girls 100m and take her place on a national team for the first time in three years, since placing third at the World Under-17 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya.

Davis, who has competed mostly over the 200m this year so far, could have teammate Brandy Hall who leads all entrants with 11.38 seconds and Excelsior High’s Ackera Nugent, known more for her hurdling skills, as her main rivals.

STETHS has three of the top-four Under-17 boys 100m runners coming into the event, but it’s Clarendon College’s Richard Nelson who leads the performance list with 10.70m, followed by the STETHS trio of Warren Smith, Orlando Wint, and Alicke Cranston.

After skipping last year’s CARIFTA Trials, the Clayton twins — Tia and Tina — are down to contest the Under-17 girls 100m where they are expected to battle for the places with teammate Serena Cole, Hydel High’s Kerrica Hill and Mt Alvernia High’s Carleta Bernard, who won the event last year.

Holmwood Technical’s Bovel McPherson could be the best high school quarter-miler in the country after a fantastic end to last year when he took bronze at the Pan Am Under-20 Championships, but he will have to prove his pedigree this weekend.

With the likes of Evaldo Whitehorne his teammate on the national junior record-setting squad at the Pan Am Under-20, World Under-17 gold medallist Antonio Watson who ran his first 400m at the Gibson-McCook Relays last weekend and Excelsior High’s Demar Francis, all contenders, Saturday afternoon’s final will be a must-watch event.

The Under-20 girls event will be just as competitive with Danielle Deer of Holmwood Technical, defending CARIFTA champion Shaquena Foote of Petersfield, Aalliyah Francis of Rusea’s High and Hydel High’s Oneika McAnnuff all expected to be in the contest for one of the two places or at least spot in the relay pool.