MONTEGO BAY, St James — St Elizabeth Technical High (STETHS) will start the defence of their County of Cornwall Athletics Association (COCAA)/GraceKennedy Western Champs titles on Thursday when the first day of the two-day championships gets underway at Cornwall College, starting at 8:30 am.

Thirty-one finals — 15 track and field finals as well as 16 in the field — are scheduled to be decided today before the action continues on Saturday with the remaining finals at the St Elizabeth Technical Sports Complex in Santa Cruz.

Last year, STETHS topped the girls’ field with 357.5 points, beating Petersfield High- 267 points, Mt Alvernia High- 238 points, William Knibb Memorial – 173.5 points and Maggotty High -116 points in the top five.

STETHS scored 388.5 points to win the boys’ section, ahead of Munro College with 226.333 points, Herbert Morrison Technical -209.333, Cornwall College -159.333 points and William Knibb Memorial – 152 points.

The finals of the 200m in all eight classes could be the highlight of the day on the track, while the boys’ 3000m and the six 1500m finals will also be decided.

All shot put finals, as well as both Class 3 discus throw finals will be decided as well as three girls long jump finals, the boys class 3 long jump final as well as two high jump finals in either gender categories.

Boys Class 1 100m defending champion DeAndre Daley of Herbert Morrison Technical is listed for the double and while he will start favourite for the shorter sprint, he could face serious challenges in the 200m.

STETHS’ Enrique Webster, Munro College’s Romario Hines and Cornwall College’s Zachary Cox will all be eyeing the gold medal. William Knibb’s Lavanya Williams and the STETHS pair of Shanque Williams and Jhenelle Jones could share the medals in the Girls Class 1 200m while Lacovia High’s Sabrina Dockery should retain her Class 2 title.

Several field events will attract a lot of attention, including the Class 2 boys shot put where Munro College’s Javonte Smith, who threw 18.11m at last weekend’s Milo Western Relays, should add the meeting record to the Class 3 record he broke last year.

Cornwall College’s Mar-Lando Farquharson is expected to upgrade his bronze medal from last year to gold after he threw a personal best 17.75m to win at Milo Western Relays as well last weekend.

Paul Reid