Carifta battle starts today

The island's top Under-20 and Under 17 athletes will be going for glory over the next three days, starting today, with the Carifta Trials taking over the National Stadium, as they seek places to the event, which will be held in Nassau, Bahamas, between March 31 and April 2.

Today's action will get under way at 4:30 p.m. with the finals of the Girls Under-17 and Under-20 Shot Put. Thirty minutes later, there will be action on the track with the preliminary round of the Under 17 Girls 400 metres.

Overall; today, there will be eight finals in field events with the others being Under-20 girls shot put, Under-20 boys long jump, Under-17 boys high jump, Under-17 girls high jump, Under-17 boys shot put, and the Under-20 boys shot put.

Track action today will also see the preliminary round in the 100m and 1500m for both age groups for males and females.

With the Digicel Grand Prix finals set for next week at the same venue, with the staging of the G.C. Foster Classics and the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls' Championships two weeks later, it should be great competition for the next three days as athletes are in peak form and will be hoping to seek psychological advantages going into Champs.

FIGHT TO THE FINISH

All eyes will be on the preliminaries of the 100m today with the Girl's Under-17 event to get things under way at 6:50 p.m. Here, the likes of St Jago's Briana Liston, along with the Edwin Allen trio of Tia and Tina Clayton and Serena Cole, along with Holmwood's Sasheika Steele, are expected to fight out the finish.

IAAF World Under-18 100 metres bronze medallist Kevona Davis of Edwin Allen will step up in the Under-20 age group and will be hoping for success here among her more senior peers.

It will be a sneak preview of the Champs Class One 100 metres among the boys, where Kingston College's Jhevaughn Mattherson will be making his individual debut this season. It should be hot here as the man in spanking form, Michael Stephens of Calabar, will be hoping to continue his great early season form, with his teammates Rosean Young and Tyreke Wilson also expected to have a say.