JC sprinters targeted sub 39

Following Jamaica College's scintillating 40.01 clocking to capture the Class One Boys' 4x100m at the Gibson McCook Relays last Saturday, Devaughn Baker believes his school's sprint cadre will be the ones to watch at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls' Championships next month.

"It was a fine run. We knew that we were going to come out here and win this quite easily. We wanted to break Calabar's 39.30 seconds, but we are still happy with the win," Baker said.

Baker is a former Class Two record holder in the 400m, winning the finals in 46.64 in 2013. He was a beaten World Junior Championships semi-finalist that same year but had seen a dip in form since due to injuries.

This year, however, he believes he will be big for himself and his Old Hope Road institution, hoping to medal at Champs and help them to victory.

"I am a person always in the mix, so I will medal," he added, while dismissing the assertion that JC is just about field events, jumps, and so on.

He explained that JC's class one is not to be taken lightly.

"We were going for sub-39, so we will see how that goes," he said. "Yes, we are going to cause upsets, and the next two weeks, we will prove a point. We have a point to prove."

JC were the second winners of the championships in 1911 and have been among the top five finishers since then, winning the trophy for schoolboy athletics supremacy an overall 21 times, the last in 2011.

"Every year, we go in as underdogs, and even seeing that we came out here and produced, they are still going to have us as underdogs. But we are going to prove them wrong," warned Baker.