HOLMWOOD TECHNICAL

Wilson

IF COMMENTS by the coaches of the top girls schools are anything to go by, Holmwood Technical are well on course to making it six straight at this year's Boys and Girls Championships.

Head coach Maurice Wilson remains confident despite the fact that, according to him: "This is the first year we have not had at least eight or nine champions coming back.

"We have lost, I would say, 130 points, points that for the past two years were there, once the persons were fit, those points were safe."

He added: "A bad Champs for me should be 331 points, so if I have a very good Champs, it can be anywhere between 331 and 350."

Wilson continued: "The persons we are depending on now are youngsters, so even though they are talented we are not going to put too much pressure on them.

"We are, however, the defending champions, so one thing is for sure, we must try to defend our crown."

It is no secret that Holmwood's hopes rest heavily on the shoulders of his Class One athletes but, according to Wilson, that is not totally true.

Bobby-Gaye Wilkins, Keno Haven, Andrea Reid, Audrey Segree and Salcia Slack are Holmwood 'superstars' in Class One.

"These athletes ... along with Petra Fanty, who is just moving up to Class Two, are the ones who will be carrying the brunt of the pressure for us," Wilson said

EDWIN ALLEN HIGH

Dyke

Edwin Allen's coach Michael Dyke said his team has a very good chance of winning Champs, while making it clear the worst-case scenario would be second.

"Well, right now, our aim is to win the Championship, but it's going to be very difficult," Dyke explained. "But, if that's out of our reach, then we are looking at second.

"I would say we are extremely strong in Class One. In Classes Two and Three, we have good all-round strength, especially middle distances and throws, the sprints are probably on the weaker side."

While not saying how many points he expects, Dyke said for anyone to win the girls' title they would need to score more than 250.

"I think 250-260 can win and should win," he said.

Dyke does not expect Holmwood to run away with the title.

According to him, it will not be like previous years when Holmwood dominated Classes One and Two.

"I don't think anybody will run away with it, the points will spread more."

MANCHESTER HIGH

Holness

Coach Jerry Holness is trying to maintain a top-four finish at the Championships.

"My objective is just to stay in the top four and maintain the supremacy of the central teams," he said. "I don't see myself vying for the title."

According to Holness, one of the island's most qualified coaches, Manchester did not have the depth "to challenge for the Championship".

Holness said there was a feeling that having a coach and some athletes can win the Champion-ship but "it takes more than that".

"Manchester are the only team in the top five that is depending on one coach," he said.

"I have been saying year after year that one coach can't coach sprint, hurdles, middle distances, jumps - all the other schools have at least four or five coaches," said Holness, who also coaches the boys team at Manchester.

"I think I have done enough, single-handedly to carry them to third position."

He said he is just looking forward to more quality performances from individuals like Natoya Goule (800m, 1,500m) and Shana-Gaye Tracey (400m, 400m hurdles), not to challenge for Championships.

We don't have it, we don't have the machinery set-up and until the administration can realise that, they are not going to reach anywhere."

As for points, Holness said: "I should get around 200."

He expects the champions to earn between 285 and 290.

VERE TECHNICAL

Vere's coach, Constantine Haughton, lacks any real confidence in what he termed 'unpredictable' teenage athletes.

"On paper we had it (all-round team), but it seems to have evaporated somewhere along the line students get complacent," he said.

"My years in this tell me they are so unpredictable ... the only people I make exception for are the Class Four people because they are young," he added. "I could understand when they (Class Four athletes) flip up and down, but for senior people going to three or four Champs, you have to be more predictable."

Asked if Vere could win, Haughton replied: "I don't know if the other persons will let us win ... everybody is going there to win. Of course, you would like to be better off in all the areas."

He said every team has its weaknesses and strengths, but he has never spent time studying the others. He said he just prepares his athletes and whatever they deliver, he will have to accept.

Vere's top athletes at this year's championships include Class Two stars Jura Levy and Velma Morant and Lanice Hall who won the Class Three 80m hurdles last year.

- Anthony Foster

KINGSTON COLLEGE

Russell

THEY HAVE changed head coach with Michael Russell replacing Lennox Graham, but Kingston College (KC) remain one of the leading high schools in track and field.

Russell was very relaxed when he spoke to The Gleaner on Thursday. As he watched his Class One team working on their baton changes, Russell expressed confidence in his squad's potential.

"We expect to do very well and we will be very competitive as usual. Whatever is done during the season is all over now and you now have to repeat those performances in order to be on top," he said.

Russell said the team had been troubled by illness and injury in the lead-up to the Gibson Relays but all that is behind him now.

"Our absence from the 4x800m was due to injuries and illness. Those people are well now. We did not want to press them at the Gibson Relays," Russell said.

Russell is banking on a number of points in Classes Three and One at the Championships.

"We expect to do very well in the Class Three sprints and hurdles," he said. One of his top athletes in this class is Stefan Fennell who anchored the sprint relay to a second-place finish at the Gibson Relays. Fennell will also compete in the 100m hurdles.

In fact, the hurdles in all classes is one area in which KC will be looking to dominate their rivals.

"Our hurdling across the board is very good," Russell said.

D'Omar Boyden and Lamar Wilson are expected to rule in Class Two. In Class One, there is Keiron Stewart in the 110m hurdles. He is also expected to turn out in the 400m hurdles along with Andre Peart.

KC have had a reputation for doing well in field events in the past 10 years and this year should be no different.

"We are doing well in the field events in terms of high jump and long jump. We expect good performances from Tarik Bachelor in Class One long jump and the triple jump Open."

- E.T.

Calabar High

Clarke

COACH MICHAEL Clarke will be looking to his stars in Class One and Class Two to ensure that Calabar High retain the top title at next week's GraceKennedy/ISSA Boys and Girls Championships.

Ramone McKenzie, who dominated Class Two last year and went on to mine gold in the 200m at the World Youth Championships, will lead the charge in Class One while in Class Two the star should be diminutive sprinter Earl Lee who copped the double among Under-17 athletes at the National Stadium last weekend.

"Overall, the progress has been pretty decent. It could have been better but I think the reduced time that we had (to prepare) has definitely had some negative impact," Clarke said this week.

While Clarke said they should do well in Classes One and Two, he was a bit concerned about Class Three.

"We are not as strong as we would like to be in Class Three but we will be able to hold our own. Class One and Class Two are our strongest areas," he said.

Clarke added that supporters of Calabar can expect a better showing from the school in field events and hurdles this year. The top hurdler is Warren Weir in Class One. Weir was impressive in his win in the 110m hurdles at the Carifta Trials last Saturday, beating Kingston College's national junior record holder Keiron Stewart.

Clarke is hoping to score heavily in Class One.

"In Class One our strongest events are the short sprints, 100m, 200m and 400m. "All the representatives in Class One are very competitive and we will earn serious points in the class," Clarke said.

In Class Two, he said they were good in the 100m and 200m, the throws and both long and high jumps.

In Class Three, Clarke said he was expecting most points in the 400m, 800m, hurdles and high jump.

After running St Jago's crack 4x100m team very close at the Gibson Relays, Clarke was quietly confident they could create an upset.

"We are hoping to come out the victors. We are doing the necessary things. It just boils down to who can hold their heads and deliver on the day," he concluded.

- E.T.

JAMAICA COLLEGE

Mair

OLYMPIAN JOHN Mair, the coach of Jamaica College (JC), has his sights set on taking the coveted Mortimer Geddes Trophy to Old Hope Road for the first time in eight years.

"I think that JC have just as good a chance as any of the top schools. We have been finishing in the top three for the past three years and we are hoping to move to the top this year," the man who represented Jamaica in the 100m at the 1988 Seoul Olympics said.

According to Mair, JC had a 'rounded' team which should do very well.

"We are strong from Class Three right up to Class One. We have some individual talent that should score some good points for us," he said.

In Class One, JC will be looking to former Class Three star Winston Barnes and Kemari Roach in the 100m and 200m; Bengallo Morrison in the 800m and 1500m. He is also looking to gain valuable points from Simon Dickens and Andre Collins in the 110m hurdles.

"I also expect a lot from David Hall in the Class Two high jump and Kavian Smith in the 400m."

JC will also have in their team last year's outstanding Class Three 800m runner Waqar DaCosta. DaCosta will run in Class Two for the first time and is among the favourites for gold.

In Class Three, JC are fairly strong. Demar Donnigan in the long jump, Nicholas Phinn, long and high jumps, Kyle Robinson and Chadrick Roper in the 100m, 200m are the athletes expected to feature in this Class for JC.

"I am hoping to do well. We are putting in a lot of work, we have the depth right across the board and if the boys do what they should do then we will be heading to Old Hope Road with the Mortimer Geddes Trophy," Mair said.