Thu | May 2, 2024

T&T’s best set for Gibson Relays

Published:Sunday | February 18, 2024 | 12:08 AMRaymond Graham - Gleaner Writer
Pause
Rushell Clayton gets out of the blocks during the women’s 400-metre final at the Gibson-McCook Relays inside the National Stadium on February 25, 2023.
Gladstone Taylor
Rushell Clayton gets out of the blocks during the women’s 400-metre final at the Gibson-McCook Relays inside the National Stadium on February 25, 2023.
1
2

ONE OF the most popular track and field events on the local calendar, the Gibson-McCook Relays will have its 51st staging next Saturday inside the National Stadium starting at 9:30 a.m. with the preliminary round of the high school boys’ 4x400m relay.

Making things interesting will be the respective additions to the lineups of top Trinidad and Tobago male and female high school teams, Queen’s Royal College and Bishop Anstey High School.

The twin-island republic’s representatives will be joined by Flying Angels and Brompton Racers out of Canada.

St Kitts will be represented in the male high jump.

According to Ryan Peralto, a member of the Gibson Relays organising committee, the meet has attracted the usual high number of entries.

“We have received over 2,000 entries for this year’s staging and we are pleased to introduce the mixed 4x400-metre relay for high school teams for the first time at the meet,” said Peralto.

“We have received over 37 entries in the senior men’s invitational 100 metres and we will be having heats and a final in this event for the first time,” Peralto also disclosed.

According to Peralto, the man in charge of entries, some 15 championship relay events for high school teams are down to be contested.

“The overseas teams from Trinidad and Tobago and Canada will compete in the 4x100, 4x200, and 4x400m relays for high school teams. We expect good performances from these teams, especially from the Queen’s [Royal] College boys’ team who were fourth in the international high school 4x100 metres at last year’s Penn Relays behind winners Excelsior High,” said Peralto.

Trinidad and Tobago has a rich history in athletics having produced Olympians from as far back as McDonald Bailey in 1952 and medallist Wendell Mottley in 1964. More recently have come names like Deon Lendore, who died in a car crash in 2022, Marc Burns, Jehue Gordon, and Jereem Richards.

PUMA are once again the main sponsor of the 42-event meet.

Dr Marion Bullock-Ducasse is the new chairman of the meet following Professor Renford Wilks’s resignation from the post.

As usual, there will be special awards for top high school teams.

The best male and female teams will each receive $100,000, championship event record breakers will receive $75,000, and the team with the best overall performance will receive the Neville ‘Teddy’ McCook Trophy along with a cash prize of $150,000.

The usual Howard Aris lecture, which is normally held on the eve of the meet, will be at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel this Thursday at 7 p.m.

The topic this year will be ‘Managing Elite Athletes For Maximum Return’, which will see legendary track and field coach Glen Mills as the main speaker.