AFTER securing a maiden Central Championships win recently, Hydel High’s Head Coach Corey Bennett would relish getting their first-ever top honours at the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships, but admits their chances of doing so are slim.

This he said is due to the fact that his team is severely affected by a shortage of quality in some events when compared to last year, particularly in the field. The Ferry-based team was 57 points behind reigning champions Edwin Allen High at the end of last year’s five-day spectacle.

Action for this year’s 113th edition is scheduled for March 28 to April 1 at the National Stadium.

“It is going to be difficult. Winning a championship means you are going to have to have some serious depth; and it’s not that we can’t win it but we know from the start that we are not entering certain events, especially when our competitors are in all the events. So, that kind of sets us behind when you know you don’t have all guns blazing,” Bennett told the Jamaica Observer.

“We were a lot more balanced last year because we had a lot more quality, excellent quality. When you lose athletes like Kerrica Hill, who was still eligible for this year, you have lost a lot. So I think we had a lot more in terms of quality last year that would have helped the team this year. We have people stepping up but it is unfortunate we don’t have the same quality,” he lamented.

Still, Bennett is expecting much from the likes of Captain Oneika McAnnuff, Alana Reid and Alliah Baker, among others, with hopes that they can once again run their Clarendon rivals close, much like their 0.5-point win at Central Championships.

“It was good to have won it and it shows that we have some quality. We have a few girls who competed at Central Champs that won’t be competing at Champs this year so that is also significant, but I’m sure our competitors also have that [issue] as well,” Bennett said.

He continued: “So we won’t be sitting on our laurels because, as the name states, Central Champs was just girls from the central part of the island and there are some girls from the Corporate Area that will affect Champs, and you also have good athletes from other parts of the island. So, Central Champs was a good indication but it is not the end all — the big championship will be decided when everybody comes together.

“Most of our points are going to be on the track, again. We have some work to do in the field but we do have a Class 2 thrower who I expect to do well. But, most of the points are expected to come on the track and I just hope that comes to fruition.”

Bennett reckoned that the experience over the years is sitting well with his more senior athletes as they are unbothered with the expectations associated with being perennial title contenders. However, he suggested that the label motivates them to excel.

“That is generally the tone in teams that I coach. We tend not to be overconfident because we have to respect all our opponents — not just the main contenders — because it is a championship, and we have seen the results over the past couple months, and there are many schools who will affect the final results at Champs,” he reasoned

“So, similar to how we want it, other schools wants it as well, so we have to be grounded and let the performances do the talking,” Bennett ended.