Mount Alvernia fancied for Gibson-McCook Class Four 4x100m

Coach Andrew Henry’s Mount Alvernia High School speed squadron will come to the 50th Gibson-McCook Relays on Saturday as the favourites in the Class Four 4x100 metres. Undefeated and fastest on the clock at 49.03 seconds, the little ladies from Alvernia confirmed their fine form at Western Championships last Saturday. However, Henry isn’t placing undue pressure on them to win again ahead of contenders from Hydel, Holmwood and Edwin Allen High Schools.

Speaking at Western Championships last Saturday, Henry outlined his goals for them.

“When I think about it, my most important wish is for them to get into every championship and finish healthy because the reality is that we have a young set of athletes which I’m not going to place any undue stress on. They have to take time to develop and we’re not going to force them to develop,” he said of Marsha-Lee Farquharson, Giana Murray, Chanel Clarke and Mickhaela Phang, who won at Western Champs on the grass at St Elizabeth Technical High in 50.0 seconds.

Murray ran consistently to win the 100m in 12.10 seconds. She later completed the sprint double by winning the 200m ahead of Phang.

“Whatsoever happens at Gibson-McCook, well, that will be fine for me. It’s just for them to learn from every competition they go to, they follow instructions at every competition and hopefully in the next two to three years, they will be fully mature and then they can take the pressure,”Henry projected.

“But at their age, I don’t intend to apply any undue pressure to them. Let them go through. Let them just enjoy competing without the stress,” Henry said.

Still, he clearly is optimistic for them in the short, medium and long term.

“They are here. They are performing,” he stated, “What I really like with the present Class Four is that they are working on a daily basis in training, and, with that, we can see it in their performances.”

Mount Alvernia (49.03) beat Holmwood, 49.11; and Edwin Allen, 49.33, at the Western Relays while at the Camperdown Classic, Hydel clocked 49.18 seconds.

Murray and company can look up to the likes of Western Championships Class One 200m winner Carletta Bernard and Aaliyah Foster who set the first record on the final day of the meet. Foster bounced 6.19 metres to win the Class One long jump and Henry suggested technical tweaks are in the works.

“She hasn’t gotten it correctly as yet because there are some specifics that we were working on in training, in which as the stride increases, then the focus tends to change a little bit, but hopefully by next month at Champs and Carifta Trials, she should be able to get as close as possible to what we expect,” he predicted.

The 2022 ISSA/GraceKenndy Boys and Girls’ Championships Class Two long jump winner came back to win the 400m in 57.18 seconds.