ST CATHERINE, Jamaica – Nearly $500,000 will be up for grabs across six events at Saturday’s staging of the Milo Western Relays at GC Foster Sports College in St Catherine.

The top three teams in the Class 1 4×100-metres, 4×400-metres Open and 4×800-metres Open relays for both male and female will receive cash incentives of $40,000, $20,00 and $10,000 respectively, it was announced at Tuesday’s media launch.

The incentive scheme was last included at the meet in 2020 but was not in place last year when the event resumed after a short break.

“We did not have a title sponsor last year and so we were unable to to maintain the cash incentives which we know the schools looked forward to each year,” Meet Director Ray Harvey explained.

Harvey welcomed the return of Milo this year, noting “we are more than pleased that we can resume the incentive programme as this is a welcomed bonus for the schools to work hard.”

The competition is expected to be fierce on Saturday with a number of schools and clubs lined up for what the organisers hope will be a full day of heated competition.

In addition to five relay events – the event which is a qualifier for the ISSA National Championships will see competition in the 4×100-metres, 4×200-metres, 4×400-metres 4×800-metres and the Sprint Medley – there will be competition in the 100-metres, 400-metres, 800-metres, 1500-metres for women and 3000-metres for men; sprint hurdles in all classes, 400m hurdles Open as well as long and high jumps.

World Under 20 Championships 100m silver medalists Bouwahjgie Nkrumie of Kingston College and Serena Cole of Edwin Allen will be recognised for outstanding 2022 seasons while electronic time keeper/ photofinish judge Anthony McKnight will be the meet patron.

National high school champions Kingston College and Edwin Allen lead the high school section while Sprintec, MVP Track Club and GC Foster are expected to go head to head in the clubs/institutions section.

Harvey told OBSERVER ONLINE that organisers were “surprised by the response to the jumps”, noting that there are 25 entries in the men’s long jump and 20 in the women’s event.

“We expect some good competition there,” he said.

The high school relays Harvey said are expected to be fiercely contested with Excelsior High the defending champions in the boys 4×400-metres Open and Herbert Morrison challenging Kingston College who won four of the seven relays last year.

Edwin Allen High swept all seven relays in the girls’ competition last year including an epic 4×800-metres where they battled Holmwood Technical to the wire. Vere Technical and Mt Alvernia High are expected to add to the quality on Saturday.

A number of mouthwatering clashes are expected in the individual events, including the men’s 100-metres Open which will see top schoolboys DeAndre Daley of Herbert Morrison Technical, the CARIFTA Games Under 20 champion, and Brian Levell of Edwin Allen, the CARIFTA Games Under 20 200-metres champion.

Excelsior High’s Damor Miller, Javon Rawlins of GC Foster and MVP TC’s Norman Pittersgill are also down to contest the event.