Defending champions Hydel Prep will be hunting their 20th title in the last 23 years as the JISA Prep School Championships, powered by GK General Insurance and GK Mutual Funds, is to start this morning inside the National Stadium at 9:00.

This will be the 45th staging of the three-day championship which will see approximately 1,500 athletes from 45 schools competing in 39 events concluding on Saturday.

Last year, Hydel rallied late and caught long-time leader Mona Prep winning by eight and a half points, tallying 179 to 170.5.

Last year’s third and fourth-placed teams, Vaz and Sts Peter and Paul, are also expected to challenge for the title.

Emmanuel Christian Academy, which won two years ago, had a dismal champs last year finishing ninth with just 74 points, but are expected to be rejuvenated with a better showing this time around.

If one is to go by what some of the coaches of the top teams are saying, there would be no winner this year as all are playing down their teams’ chances.

Hydel are under the tutelage of Coach Richard Johnson. He said his team is in a rebuilding process.

“It will be a major challenge to retain the title. We lack a big spread and don’t have depth,” Johnson told the Jamaica Observer.

“At the same time, there will always be mistakes and if the opportunities come, we will take it,” said Johnson.

“There are a number of schools that showed improvement in their programmes. Our objective is to rebuild and restore the programme to maintain dominance,” he noted.

Mona Prep, who led the 2023 Prep Champs entering the last two events, will be back for redemption but Coach Locksley Anderson did not express optimism of winning.

“We are not contenders as such, so you can rule out winning. But I have a competitive team. Last year I had an all-round team but this year we [are] not so strong as our Class Three is very weak,” he told the Observer.

“People give us a chance but from the coaches’ perspective, we don’t have a chance,” he added.

Sts Peter and Paul’s Coach Jerome Kirby said preparation was good and he is expected to be in the top four once again.

“So far training is good, preparations were smooth and we are aiming to score as many points as possible,” said Kirby.

He continued: “I believe we had a stronger team last year covering a broader scope of events. However, there is a high likelihood that we will be in the top four this year again.”

Action is to get under way with the Class One 400m preliminaries followed by the girls’ long jumps. There will be two finals of the opening day — Class Two Boys’ high jumps at 10:05 am and the Girls’ Class Two high jump at 2:25 pm. The opening ceremony will be at 2:00 pm.