Coach laments Champs field events structure

Western Bureau:

AFTER WATCHING young Javontae Smith shatter both the Class Three Boys’ shot put and discus records at last week’s COCAA Western Athletics Championships, Munro College’s head coach, Omar Bryan, is disappointed his young sensation will not get a chance to showcase his talent at this month’s ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships (Champs).

Class Three throws are not on the cards for boys at Champs.

Smith was arguably the most outstanding performer at Western Champs, breaking two records. He broke the 49.22-metre discus mark set in 2018 by Altwayne Bedward with 54.69m. The new mark, coming on his final attempt, was one of four attempts Smith had over the previous record.

Smith had previously set 16.41 metres as the new Western Championships shot put mark.

“After such a performance it’s sad that Javontae won’t be throwing at Champs. Why is it that we don’t have Class Three boys throwing at Champs, but yet we have Class Three girls? If we can do it at West Champs, I’m sure we can find a way to fit it into the schedule at Champs,” Bryan said.

“He is in the top five in the country at under-17s going into CARIFTA in both the shot put and the discus, so we are going to go for it and see what happens. I expect it to be competitive and all being well, he should get some personal bests,” he added.

Smith, who is laser-focused on continuing to throw well, is excited about what he managed to achieve.

“It is great to win two gold medals and two records. I just tried to execute well. After I realised that I broke the record, I just went hard for the other throws,” said Smith.

Despite being somewhat dormant for a few years, Munro returned with a bang to grab a second-place finish at Western Champs, thanks to a strong showing in the throws. Coach Bryan said it has been and will always be a huge part of their culture.

“As far as I know it’s coming from Dr (Paul) Auden who threw for Munro before becoming a coach. He coached Dr Kevin Gwyn Jones, who was outstanding for Munro College, and went on to coach Rory Marsh and myself. It’s coming from a long line of throwers so it’s culture more than anything else,” Bryan said.

“I am grateful they we were able to come out and execute what we have been practising. We are now looking forward to Champs,” he added.

The all-boys school have two athletes scoring points in all but one of the throwing events. It was a Munro one-two-three in both the Class Three shot put and discus with Selethel Johnson and Luke Ridgard, respectively, behind Smith.

Other massive performances came from Bryan Dobson who won the Class Two discus, while his teammate Rajeem Streete was third.

Dobson and Joshua Wright were second and third in the Class Two shot put while Chad Hendricks picked up a silver medal in the Boys’ Class One discus.