Paul A. Reid, Staff Reporter .JPG)
POWELL, FOSTER-HYLTON, MASON AND GONZALES
WESTERN BUREAU: THREE ATHENS Olympians will headline the strong line-up of athletes that
will take part in today's 27th
Milo Western Relays set for the Catherine Hall Sports Complex at 10:00 a.m.
Walker and former Edwin Allen High middle distance
runner Kay-Ann Thompson will be awarded The Gleaner/Youth Link Awards for their outstanding contributions last year, while Neville Myton, former Olympian and the first Jamaican to break a World Junior Record (the 800 yards in August 1964) is the Meet Patron.
National 100m record holder and double Olympic finalist Asafa Powell will make his debut at the meet, while 100m hurdles semi-finalist Brigette Foster-Hylton along with mile relay member Jermaine Gonzales will line up for the top prizes.
Powell and Foster-Hylton are expected to run relays for the local-based MVP club, while Gonzales will start favourite to win
the Invitational 400m and could
threaten the record 47.10 seconds set by his High Performance Training Centre (HPTC) team-mate, Trinidadian Simon Pierre, that was set last year.
Also down to participate is 2001 World Championships
silver medallists, Chris Williams.
TOP-CLASS DAY
Meet Director Ray Harvey told The Gleaner this week they were expecting a "top-class day of relay running that will compare well with anything we will see in this country."
National high jump record holder, Jermaine Mason, was set to make his seasonal debut at the meet, but pulled out late yesterday, while former World Student Games medallist ,Janice Daley, of It Dat Club will also add to the star power of the meet.
Mason has been out of action since injuring his knee while winning the silver medal at last years IAAF World Indoor Championships.
Harvey told The Gleaner they had received entries from nearly 90 schools and clubs and expect the Western Relays to live up to its high standard of competition.
While the Olympians will attract most of the attention, Harvey said the high school
sections should provide most of the excitement as some close races are expected, especially among the girls.
Holmwood Technical, which won four of the seven races they entered last year, will be gunning to retain all their titles - the Classes 1 and 2 4x100m, the 4x200m and 4x400m races.
They are expected to face stiff challenges from Vere Technical, which have been dominant in the early season along with former queens St. Jago, Edwin Allen, which will be gunning for a third straight win in the 4x800m and Immaculate.
The Holmwood Technical boys, who won four relays last year, and Kingston College, which won the other two, are back but will be challenged by Jamaica College and upstarts Central High and Claude McKay.
The men's long jump, that is being introduced this year along with the female long jump, is expected to get off to an explosive start with last year's Boys Champs winner Wilbert Walker, formerly of Morant Bay High, and Kenneth Sylvester of UTech set to battle for the title.
