Sport

Ja eye Penn Relays glory

By PAUL A. REID Staff Reporter

Mona High's Oneil Gunn (right) hands off the baton to Kamau Watson as they went through baton changing drills yesterday at Franklin Field in Pennsylvania. The Mona boys will take part in the 4x100m and 4x400m events Friday and Saturday at the Penn Relays. - Paul Reid

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA

CHALLENGING WEATHER CONDITIONS are expected today as the Jamaican contingent set their sights on adding to its long and rich history at the Penn Relays.

Local weather experts are forecasting rain and thunderstorms for the first two days and cool temperatures throughout the three days with highs of just over 60 Degrees Fahrenheit as the 111th staging gets underway today at Franklin Field.

The weather will certainly add to the Jamaicans' pressure of competing against the top American schools over the next three days.

The pre-meet odds are for the Jamaican teams to win at least five relay events, three girls and two boys, whose events start tomorrow morning.

Jamaica have entered 29 high schools and two college teams in the event described by organisers as the world's largest annual track and field meet.

Jamaican girls high schools won two events last year. Edwin Allen High retained the High School Girls 4x800m and Vere Technical set the record in the 4x100m. The boys were winless for the second straight year, the longest period without a win since the early 1970s.

Stephen Francis-coached University of Technology (UTech) and GC Foster will take part in the College Women's 4x100m heats and are vying to become the first Jamaican female College team to win an event here. Another Francis-coached UTech men's team won the men's 4x200m event here two years ago.

Today's events include the heats in the high school girls 4x100m, 4x400m and 4x800m events, the Distance Medley Relay, the College women's 4x100m prelims as well as the high school girls 400m hurdles, the javelin, long, triple and high jumps and shot put.

After failing to win a Championship Relay event in the past two years, Holmwood Technical are expected to return to the glory years of 2001 when they swept three titles, the 4x100m, 4x400m and 4x800m events.

Eligibility

Maurice Wilson-coached Holmwood retained their VMBS Girls' Champs title in March and have been named favourites to take the 4x100m, 4x400m and 4x800 events by the official Penn Relays website.

A lingering injury to Schillionie Calvert that kept her out of the CARIFTA Games last month and the ineligibility of Anniesha McLaughlin will put a damper on the Manchester School's chances.

McLaughlin, the IAAF World Junior Games double 200m silver medallist, used up her four years of eligibility last year and is expected to be a part of the national team that will compete here on Saturday.

Holmwood's fastest time this year, 44.25 seconds set by the Class 1 team to establish the new record at Champs, is faster than the 44.32 set by Vere last year but without McLaughlin and Calvert, may not run that fast.

St Jago's coach, Raymond 'KC' Graham was in his customary confident mood yesterday, predicting that his quartet would win the event for the first time since 2002. That year St Jago was promoted to the top spot after Holmwood was disqualified.

Graham said his team of Kadine Mason, Latoya King, Sudian Davis and CARIFTA double gold medallist Natasha Ruddock would run 44-plus seconds which, he said, is good enough to win the event.

welve Jamaican schools are set to take part including- Clan Carthy, Manchester High, Mona, Queens, St Andrews and Wolmers Girls.

Holmwood has been unbeaten all season long in both the 4x400 and 4x800m and boasts the best times coming into the meet as well. Holmwood's 3:36.46 seconds at Champs is at least two seconds faster than any other team, including Edwin Allen who ran 3:38.16 for second then.

Graham said he will be running his best team for the first time this season with the return of Shanika Smikle to full fitness and thinks his team will make the finals after a decent 3:43-plus at Gibson Relays.

Other Jamaican schools in the race are- Mona, Alpha, Manchester High, St Andrews, Wolmers Girls and Queens.

Holmwood won the last of their four straight 4x800m titles in 2001 and has a season's best 9:01.26 seconds run at Gibson Relays and will be seeking to make it 19 of the last 20 titles for Jamaican schools after Edwin Allen won the last two.

In the one other High school relay event today- Vere will be the lone Jamaican entrant in the Distant Medley Relay- 1200x400x800x1600, an event they last won in 1995 and the last of the six titles.

In the individual events, CARIFTA Under 20 gold medallist Sherene Pinnock of Edwin Allen High is set to lock horns with 400m hurdles defending champion and record holder Nicole Leach of West Catholic High here in Philadelphia.

Pinnock who finished second at Champs after a series of mishaps, rebounded with a personal best 57.18 seconds in Tobago last month and will be seeking to finish ahead of the American for the second straight time. Pinnock beat Leach by inches for the bronze at last summer's IAAF World Junior Games in Italy after losing to her here last year.

Champs winner, Nickeisha Wilson of Alpha who has a season best 57.38 when she won the silver medal at CARIFTA and Tashana Willock of St Jago are also entered in the one lap event.

Kimberley Williams of Vere is tipped to win the triple jump event after a season best 13.09m at Champs while St Andrew High's Latoya Heath is also expected to challenge for a gold watch.

Four Jamaicans led by St Jago's Tamara Francis will challenge Long Beach Poly's defending champion Shanna Woods in the long jump. Trinidad's CARIFTA gold medallist Rhonda Watkins is also a favorite here while Holmwood's Rose-Marie White, Anna-Kay Campbell of St Andrews and Rene White of Wolmers all entered.

Suesanna Williams of St Hughes is the lone Jamaican entrant in the javelin event; Claudia Calder of Alpha will take part in the high jump while Champs double gold medallist Phelecia Reynolds of St Hughes will line up in the shot put event won last year by her former team mate Nadia Alexander.