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Technology to be reintroduced at UTech Classics

Published:Wednesday | April 4, 2018 | 12:00 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer

Director of Sport at the University of Technology (UTech), Jamaica and chairman of the Organising Committee for the UTech Jamaica Track and Field Classic, Anthony Davis, says they will be reintroducing the use of technology in the jumping events at the annual meet set for Saturday, April 14, at the National Stadium, beginning at 4 p.m.

The meet, which was launched yesterday at the UTech campus, will boast the likes of Albany University student Matthew Campbell, the number one higher jumper on the US college circuit, as well as all local track clubs and institutions, highlighted by MVP, G.C. Foster College, Sprintec, UWI, plus all finalists at the recent Champs in the male and female 4x100m and 4x400m relays. Preparatory and primary school teams will be combined.

"Like at Champs, we will use the electro-magnetic distance measuring equipment, so they will not be using a tape. At Champs, we did the throws. Now we are going to go a step further and do the jumps.

"It's a question of continually introducing technology to the sport and bringing ourselves in line with what happens internationally. It was something I did before I went away, but people didn't have confidence in it, so nobody continued it, so I am actually reintroducing it back into the system," he stated.

 

PREPPING FOR PENN RELAYS

 

Campbell, a former Ardenne star, will headline a contingent of 19 athletes from the University of Albany, the only overseas contingent confirmed so far. But Davis also noted that the event was staged specifically at this time to give local schools a chance to compete before heading to the Penn Relays.

The meet also coincides with the eighth annual Caribbean Conference on Sport Sciences. The Conference is scheduled for Friday, April 13, at UTech, beginning at 9 a.m.

The Sports Science Conference, which will be held under the theme 'Sports for All', will consist of a plenary lecture by sports medicine consultant Dr Paul Wright and a panel discussion with sporting pioneers Ed Barnes, Ali McNab, Dr Dennis Johnson, Yolande Geddes-Hall, UTech student athlete Michael Campbell, rugby player Marvin Thompson, and budding FIFA referee Stephanie-Dale Yee Sing.

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com