Munro College on fire at Milo!!! Munro Munro rah rah rah hurray!!!

St Catherine – Edwin Allen High School’s Class One sprinter Gayon Evans and Holmwood Technical boys’ 4×800m relay team made it three-from-three in the Milo Junior Grand Prix Series after winning their events at last Saturday’s 31st Milo Western Relays at GC Foster Sports College in Angels, St Catherine.

The Grand Prix Series was introduced this season and offers $500,000 to the winners of the boys and girls 100m and 4×800m races in five meets through the season.

The schools from where the winners emerge will get the prize monies with $100,000 going to the 100m winners and $150,000 to the relay winners.

Evans beat her schoolmate and World Junior Championship teammate Kaycea Jones in the 100m race on Saturday, in a meet record 12.06 seconds to 12.08 seconds, while Herbert Morrison’s Class Two runner Shavine Hodges took third place in 12.19 seconds.

With two races to go, next week’s Gibson Relays at the National Stadium and the GC Foster Classic, Evans leads with 27 points, six more than Jones who has been second in all three races so far. Manchester High’s Leslie-Ann Mitchell who was fourth last week is third on 15 points.

Bolt says he is not fit despite opening the season with a faster time than last year

KINGSTON, Jamaica: Despite cruising to a winning start to his 2009 season, triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt admits that he certainly is not in shape and was happy to get his opening race over with.
Bolt, the Olympic 100m and 200m sprint champion and world record holder in both events, debuted with a relaxed 46.35 seconds 400m win last Saturday.

But despite looking well in control, the Jamaican admits that the feelings afterwards were not the same.

“That is one of the reasons why I don’t want to run 400s,” he told reporters afterwards. “I’m not really fond of lactic acid. I’m not actually in the best of shape at the moment and I’m just happy I got through it.”

The former 200/400m runner, who is being tipped as the man to test Michael Johnson’s 400m world record of 43.18sec, dismissed all speculations about him running the quarter-mile outside of his national territory this season.

“I’m not going to be doing the 400 this year,” said Bolt. “Definitely not. The plan has always been just to do a couple of 400s at the start of the season and then concentrate on the 100 and the 200.”

Faster than last year, but still behind

Meanwhile, Bolt’s victory time at the Camperdown Classics, a low-key outdoor meeting at the National Stadium East track in Kingston, was faster than the 46.94secs he opened with a year ago.

But coach Glen Mills still believes the sprinter’s progression is behind in comparison to last year. Mills, however, was not too worried about the situation, citing that Bolt’s actual season opener will come two and half months from now at the Jamaica Invitational.

Munro College lead Western Champs eliminations

SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth – Four records were broken, two in the discus events on Tuesday as defending champions Munro College opened a commanding 67-point lead after 14 finals at the Milo/Cornwall Athletics Association’s Boys’ Western Champs eliminations at STETHS.

Munro’s Levar Dunchie smashed the Class 3 1,500m and 3,000m marks, both times beating Cornwall College’s Tarik Fullerton.

Dunchie shaved the 1500m time to 4:42.49 seconds then clocked 10:24.4 in the 3,000m.

Another Munro athlete, Emanuel Oniya, established a new record in the Class 2 discus when his final throw in the preliminaries landed at 48.55m, smashing the 46.53m mark set last year by teammate Rajae Gayle.

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Bolt opens with 400m at the 2009 Camperdown Classics

TRIPLE Olympic gold medallist, Usain Bolt, began his 2009 season on a winning note, clocking 46.35 seconds in the Invitational 400 metres at yesterday’s fifth Camperdown Classics at the Stadium East in Kingston.

Running in lane five of heat three, Bolt covered his competitors by the 200m mark before cruising home ahead of fast-finishing Racers Track Club teammate Yohan Blake (46.80).

Bolt told reporters, including members of the international media, he was pleased with the time when compared to his 2008 season opener of 46.96.

“It was alright. I’m not really in the best of shape, but it felt good and I’m just happy I got through it and looking forward to next week,” Bolt said.

The world record holder for the 100m (9.69secs) and 200m (19.30secs) is scheduled to run another 400 at the UWI Invitational next Saturday at the National Stadium.

“I’ll be running a couple more 400s, but the main aim (this season) is the 100 and 200,” the 2008 National Sportsman of the Year added.

Answerth Whyte, another training partner of Bolt, was third overall with 46.89, ahead of Olympic quarter-miler Ricardo Chambers, 46.96.

World Junior 200m silver medallist, Nickel Ashmeade of St Jago, was the top schoolboy with 47.98 to win heat one of the Invitational 400m.

In the relays, Calabar and Holmwood Tech won the Class One 4×100 for Boys and Girls respectively.

The team of Oshane Bailey, Ramone McKenzie, Warren Weir and Ricardo Powell clocked 40.05 to erase St Jago’s 40.14 established last year to collect the $60,000 prize.

St George’s College was second in 41.26, followed by Jamaica College, 41.69.

On the girls side, Holmwood clocked 45.7secs to win ahead of The Queen’s, 46.0, and St Andrew High, 46.9.

Meanwhile, Waquar DaCosta of JC clocked a record 1:55.68 to win the Class Two 800m, bettering Bengallo Morrison’s 2005 mark of 1:57.1. The JC pair of Earl Grant (1:57.52) and Wayne Petrie (2:03.88) were second and third.

Asafa Powell’s team, MVP wins 4×400m at the Milo Western Relays

OLYMPIC sprint relay gold medallist, Asafa Powell, was in scintillating form at yesterday’s 31st Milo Western Relays, anchoring MVP Track Club to victory in the 4×100 and mile relays at GC Foster College.

Running on anchor after Ainsley Waugh, Michael Frater and Nesta Carter had given the team a lead, the former 100m world record holder sped to the finish line in a new meet record 38.72 seconds.

They shaved 0.15secs off the old mark established by another MVP quartet in 2006. Sprint Unit was a distant second with 40.12 while UTech timed 40.21.

Thirteen other records were broken at the meet which was being staged outside of Western Jamaica for the first time.

Powell, who opened his season with 47.75 seconds on January 31, ran another good 400m, this time in the mile relay to carry MVP to victory.

Collecting the baton some 10 metres behind in fourth position, he went out conservatively before sprinting the last 200m to overtake his competitors in the home stretch as MVP won in 3:10.56.

Powell, who was timed at 46.27secs on his anchor leg, told the Sunday Observer he planned to run a good 400 after taking instructions from coach Stephen Francis.

“When I saw that I was close to them coming out of the 200 metres, I knew that I would have passed them,” Powell said. “I’m feeling very good to finish the day with a 400 and run so well as a sprinter… I’m feeling very good about my performance today,” he added.

Meanwhile, Olympic 100m gold medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser gave the MVP women a splendid start as they won the 4×100m relay for Club and Institutions in record 43.37.

The other members of the team were Brigitte Foster-Hylton, Shericka Williams and Kaleise Spencer.