4 weeks ago
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AS EXCELSIOR High reaffirm their ambitions of breaking into the top five at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships, Michael Vassell, head coach of the girls’ programme, said their strength will come from field events.
Leading into the high school championships last year, Excelsior’s technical director David Riley had stated they were aiming to break into the top five on both the boys’ and the girls’ standings.
While they had achieved the feat on the boys’ side, placing fourth overall, the girls had fallen just short of the target when they finished eighth after the five days of competition.
Speaking with The Gleaner as he oversaw his team’s preparations this year, Vassell said the goal of the girls’ programme remains the same.
“Most definitely, our goal this year is to get into the top five for sure. We’re aiming for that,” he said. “It’s Champs, so anything can happen. All we have to do is just have to plan for the areas that we want to score in, that we can score in.”
Leading into the championships, Vassell is expecting the bulk of the team’s points to come from the field events.
His Champs expectations have been buoyed by the results he has seen in training and in competitions throughout the season.
“We’re a team that depends more on our field events and our relays, so we’re expecting for them to score at Champs,” he explained. “Our strength is in the field.”
“This season has been so far, so good. I’d say barring any injuries we are certain that we can get people scoring points. We are working very carefully and planning for those people. We have a couple of them and we are really and truly pushing for that.”
Another area of strength for the girls’ team will be their incoming Class Four cohort.
Under the guidance of Riley, Excelsior have traditionally been a programme which focuses on their Class One and Class Two athletes.
However, Vassell said this year’s Class Four athletes could break that mould as they have been showing their potential to score points at Champs.
“We have a better Class Four this year. We have a Class Four team that can score a couple points because we have better people coming into the school,” he explained.
“It’s sort of a ripple effect. The boys’ team did well and more people saw the school, so we have better quality girls coming to the school, so we have Class Four girls in the school this year that can score points at Champs.”
Leading the charge for Excelsior will be their team captain and defending Class One girls’ discus champions Najhada Seymoure.
Vassell explained that Seymoure has commanded the respect of her peers not just because of her athletic achievements, but also because of her academic standing where she serves as the school’s deputy head girl.
“Our team captain this year is Najhada Seymoure and she is a Jamaica national representative and she is also the deputy head girl at the school,” he said.
“She is one that is respected not only for her athletic talent but also her academics. She is also respected by her school community.”
English (US) ·