President’s/ Jefford Track and Field Classic launched

TIMES INT'L

 

– Marian Burnett confirmed her participation

By Rajiv Bisnauth

Marian Burnett

After two years the President’s/ Jefford Track and Field Classic can be dubbed as the most prestigious Track and Field championships in Guyana and based on that recognition, the third edition will be held on May 20 at the Mackenzie Sports Club (MSC) ground in Linden.

The event was impressively launched yesterday in the boardroom of the Digicel head office on Fort and Barrack Streets, Kingston. President of the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) Colin Boyce disclosed that Guyana’s international middle distance runner Marian Burnett has confirmed her participation for the championships while Guyana’s 3000 steeplechase runner Jennifer Chichester is also expected to grace the event. Boyce, who was a former sprinter, further revealed that apart from the two overseas-based athletes and the local contingent, the championships can expect a Caribbean invasion with at least two athletes from Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Grenada and Suriname.

The names of those athletes are expected to be confirmed later this week This, Boyce noted will create a more competitive atmosphere between Burnett, the local athletes and their Caribbean counterparts.

“What we do is to make it more competitive not only for Marian Burnett who is expected to feature in the 800 and 1500 meters, but also our local athletes,” Boyce added. The head of the Police Sports Committee further told the gathering that this year’s programme consists of 26 individual events, six team events, two events for the masters male and female and also a side event for older former national sprinters.

Boyce said that organisers are looking at the possibility of merging the smaller teams in order to make it more competitive so that each team participating in the championships is given the opportunity to win the grand prize.

The President’s/ Jefford Track and Field Classic was first held in 2010 in the memory of the late Elton Jefford, a former athlete and president of the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) who passed away in 2009 and is the brainchild of his son Edison Jefford and current AGG president Colin Boyce.

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