By Anthony Foster, Freelance WriterWORLD JUNIOR 200-metre champion Usain Bolt is set to open his 2004 season on Saturday at the Alpart-sponsored St. Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) invitational track and field meet on the school's ground in Santa Cruz.
Bolt, the World Junior 200m joint record holder, will be the highlight of this year's meet. The 17-year-old, who also won gold at the Pan American Junior Championships, the World Youth Championships and National Senior Championships last year will represent the International Association of Athletics Federation's (IAAF) High Performance Centre (HPC) based at UTech.
The former William Knibb student along with fellow HPC teammate, Jermaine Gonzales, head the athletes registered for the meet. Quarter-miler Davita Prendergast, who is also at UTech, makes a return to her former school for the meet.
MCLAUGHLIN
Top schoolgirl Anneisha McLaughlin of Homlwood is also expected to turn out for the meet which is being sponsored by Alpart for the second straight year.
The event will see schools, clubs and tertiary institutions from across the island competing for prizes topped by the Alpart Championship Trophy.
Alpart public relations officer David McKenzie said his company was proud to be sponsoring the meet for the second year.
"As partners in Jamaica's progress we are committed to the development of youths through sports," McKenzie said.
"Alpart has had a long history of association with STETHS, having through its parent company, Kaiser, donated the land on which the school now sits. Throughout the years we have supported numerous academic and sports programmes," he said.
The events to be contested are: 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 4x400m, 4x800m, 100m and 400m hurdles, long jump, triple jump, high jump, discus and shot put.
