Pentathlon Challenge a test for athletes at Ted Dwyer meet

THE FIFTH staging of the Ted Dwyer Classics and Pentathlon Challenge meet will be held at Excelsior High School tomorrow starting at 8:30 a.m.

One of two development meets in the Corporate Area, with the Pure Water/JC/R. Danny Williams down to take place at the Ashenheim Stadium on Old Hope Road, meet director Michael Russell sees the Ted Dwyer as a meet with a difference,

“The Pentathlon Challenge is something good for athletes doing multiple events as in past we have produced outstanding athletes in multiple events but they do not get the chance to show their talents in a single day, and this is a chance for them to compete in the combined events in a single day,” said Russell, who is also the sports director at Excelsior Community College.

With the Jamaica College meet being held on the same day it was a challenge for Russell to get high school athletes to attend the Ted Dwyer.

“We knew that having the meet the same day as the Jamaica College meet would have been a big challenge as most coaches want their athletes to compete on synthetic track instead of grass because of the qualifications for the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Championships,” said Russell, who added that the meet was originally conceptualised for collegiate and club athletes.

The Pentathlon Challenge which has been included at the meet for the past three years is the only one of its kind on the local athletics calendar where athletes test their skills over five events.

The females will start with the 200 metres which will be followed by the shot put, long jump, javelin throw and close out with the 800m.

The males they will kick off with the 400m and this will be followed by the shot put, long jump, pole vault and will close out with the 1500m.

Other individual events on the day will include the shot put, discus, javelin, high jump and triple jump in the field, while on the track there will be 100m, 400m, 800m, 1500m and 4x400m.