Excelsior High reclaimed their dominance in schoolboy football after winning the ISSA Manning Cup and Olivier Shield recently. However, there isn’t an immediate plan to replicate that success in track and field as Head Coach David Riley’s focus is athlete development rather than chasing the ISSA Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships (Champs) title.

The Eagles from Mount View Avenue have been ramping up preparations for the prestigious high school track and field event, set for March 24 to 28 at the National Stadium in Kingston.

Under Riley, who joined in 2012 after leading Wolmer’s Boys’ to the Boys’ title in 2010, Excelsior have been a consistent performer at Champs with top eight finishes in both the boys’ and girls’ section. Last year, they finished fifth on the boys’ standings and eighth on the girls’.

Despite the significant improvement, it’s been decades since Excelsior last lifted the crown on either side with their lone boys’ title coming in 1960 and the girls dominating from 1970 to 1973.

Riley, though, told the Jamaica Observer that he doesn’t foresee a title challenge from his charges this year with the school prioritising development at this stage.

“My approach has been to put my resources, connections and knowledge to guide whatever mission or goal the school may have. Those goals must come from the leadership of the school. It can’t come from me, a functionary, to give the school goals that they may not want to pursue as goals in terms of the overall planning and strategy. That’s just not something that I should be concerned about. It’s really the general way in which organisations operate,” he said.

“So if the school leadership wants to pursue that path, I’ll use my best judgment and professionalism to tell them what needs to be done to get there and we’ll provide full support with the staff and the students to make it happen [but] that conversation has not happened yet.”

Riley, who was recently appointed to the World Athletics’ Coaches Commission, says the immediate goal is to continue strengthening Excelsior’s track and field programme.

“It still remains a very strong sporting institution. Years ago it was voted as the best school for sports for girls, so it has a long tradition in sports based on the vision of the founder. It still remains a very strong sporting institution that balances the academics as well,” he said.

“We’re just going along with it. The development continues with the athletes there and athey are developing and we’re looking forward to a great 2026 and see where our performance takes us on the leaderboard.”

Although the eastern end of the island was largely spared by Hurricane Melissa last October, Riley says it has impacted the team’s training programme ahead of the championships in March.

However, he believes they’ve been making steady progress in being fully prepared to meet their objectives.

“We have various levels of engagement with parents and of course we have to sell the vision and get the students to participate. Consistency is what is needed for athletic development. We need to be there, not just once a week. We need to be there every day that we gather to practise and develop the skills so those challenges are still what we have to deal with,” he said.

“Hurricane Melissa has made it more difficult for persons to come to practice. Many of the kids might have relatives and family in western Jamaica and much of the resources have been diverted to provide assistance to those who are in greater need. We still have to manage the issues of attendance and nutrition of our students to make sure that those things are aligned with the training cycle and we can get the development going. So far, it has been an interesting experience post-Melissa and we have been able to strike the balance and still be on a path that will help us to reach our goals.”