Sprint Fest 200 metres championships organiser Wayne Long is expecting a successful event this year.,

The championships, which have attracted some of the island’s top institutions, will be held on Friday at Jamaica College at 2:00 pm.

“Everything is on track because we have over 400 persons entered from 30 different institutions, so we are right about where we want this meet to be for this year,” Long said. “Our main focus is to provide a platform for our athletes to perform and we don’t know what the performances are going to be like on Friday, but since we began this meet, every year it has gotten better and better.”

Long says the meet offers an opportunity for coaches to assess their athletes’ readiness for the upcoming season.

“This meet also provides an opportunity for the coaches to see how their athletes are progressing, so I am certain that every coach will be coming with a different expectation, and we are just here to provide it for them,” he said. “This meet has been very successful over the years, and this year we are expecting it to be the same.”

Long says prizes will be awarded for the most outstanding performers in the Sprint Fest 200m as well as the 100m and Throws Fest events.

“We have added another component to it, which is a series,” he said. “So, what we are going to be doing is that we are going to have prizes for persons who perform well over the two meets, Sprint Fest 200 and 100, as well as prizes for the Throws Fest meets.

“We will have a champion Sprint Fest school and a champion Throws Fest school for male and female. There will also be prizes for the best individual class champions at the end for both meets.

Jamaica College, Calabar, Wolmer’s Boys’ and Girls’, Hydel, St Jago, Clarendon College, Meadowbrook, Holy Childhood, Merl Grove, Mona, and St George’s College are among the schools scheduled to compete at the championships on Friday.

— Robert Bailey