International athletes’ boon benefits Edwin Allen, KC most

OVER THE years, overseas-based athletes have made their presence felt at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships, the trend set to continue this week.

In the past, it was mostly athletes from the Caribbean who participated at the Championships for their Jamaican high-school teams. However, things have changed, and now there are athletes from as far as Africa and Europe who have been attracted to high-school programmes in Jamaica.

When the five-day Championships begin at the National Stadium on Tuesday, all eyes will be on these athletes, with several of them expected to be among the medals and amassing points for their teams.

Favourites for the girls’ and boys’ titles, respectively, Edwin Allen and Kingston College (KC), are set to benefit most from the influx.

Nine-time girls’ champions Edwin Allen, who were surprised by Hydel last year, should easily win the title, and they boast three overseas-based athletes, in Natasha Fox, Trezeguet Taylor, and Kerelle Etienne, who should score significant points for the Frankfield-based team.

Fox, out of Trinidad and Tobago, will compete in the Class 1 400 metres and the Open 400-metre hurdles and looks set to score 12 points. She is ranked second in the 400 hurdles with 59.00 seconds, behind teammate Tonyann Beckford, 58.52 seconds. She is ranked fourth in the 400 metres with 54.70.

She is also a member of the Edwin Allen’s Class 1 4x100-metre and Open 4x400-metre relay teams that are both the top seeds.

Taylor, out of Great Britain, will compete in the Class 1 100 metres and 4x100m relay. With a season’s best of 11.69 seconds, she is the third-ranked athlete over the shortest of sprints.

Etienne, out of Dominica, will make her debut for Edwin Allen in Class 3. She is ranked number two in the 100 metres with 11.70, just behind Wolmer’s Girls’ Natrece East, 11.62 seconds. The two are expected to have an epic battle for the gold medal. Etienne has looked awesome in the relays all season and could help them to avenge their Gibson McCook relays loss to St Jago, where they were second.

KC look set to benefit big time from their host of African athletes, who are expected to dominate the middle-distance events.

In doing so, they will give their team quality points towards their Champs success. Four of these athletes, all from Kenya, will look to stamp their authority.

A quinella and 16 points is on the card in the Class 2 1,500 metres as Chris Wanjiku and Nahashon Ruto should finish first and second. Wanjiku has the leading time here of 4:02.84, with his teammate second best, with 4:05.20.

Ethan Gioko should get the better of Jamaica College’s (JC) Kemarrio Bygrave in Class 1 1,500 metres, where he is the leader in the event in 4:00.48, ahead of Bygrave, 4:01.58.

Gioko looks set for a double win as he should take care of business in the Open 5000 metres, following his leading time of 15:27.45, which is more than one second faster than his nearest rival. Teammate Brian Kiprop also looks set to take home the Open 2000-metre Steeplechase, where his season’s best 6:00.47 is the leading time.

Another overseas-based athlete, who will add significantly to KC’s point tally, is Amal Glasgow out of St Vincent. With a season’s best 46.93 seconds in the Class 1 400 metres, only teammate Marcinho Rose, with 46.36 seconds, has gone faster.

KC’s five overseas-based athletes could bring 50 points, which should definitely make the difference in helping them retain their title, with the points gap between thems and JC expected to be around 40 points.