Central Hurdles and Relays meet gets green light

One of the popular local track and field development meets on the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) calendar, the Central Hurdles and Relays, will still go ahead as scheduled, with the meet set to take place at its usual venue, GC Foster College, this Saturday starting at 8:30 a.m.

With renovation work slated for the GC Foster College track, it was earlier announced that this meet, along with the Milo Western Relays, scheduled for the same venue, had been cancelled as work was expected to begin a week ago. However, most of the equipment to be used for the repair job is yet to be cleared at the wharf, and the meet has now been given the green light to proceed.

Meet manager of the Central Hurdles and Relays, Chester McCarthy, who is also director of sports at GC Foster, made the revelation on Saturday at the staging of the JAAA Puma/Anderson/Fuller Development Meet -- an event that had also previously been in doubt.

"The Central Hurdles and Relays meet will definitely take place on Saturday, January 24, at its usual venue," said McCarthy.

"The delay in clearing the materials from the wharf to assist with the renovation work on the track has set back the project, and this has given us the opportunity to keep this meet, which is a very crucial one in the season, especially with relays and hurdles taking place," he continued.

According to McCarthy, with sponsorship already secured, he was encouraged by the governing body of athletics, the JAAA, to make every effort to stage the meet.

"In consultation with the JAAA, they encouraged us to try our best to make it happen, and with sponsorship already on board, this was a no-brainer," McCarthy shared.

McCarthy also stated that there will be no track events at the venue during the month of February.

"Work will definitely start on the track in a few days, and for the entire month of February the facility will be closed. The first event likely to take place after that will be the GC Foster Classics," he said.

There is also some concern regarding the Central Athletics Championships -- a prelude to the ISSA Boys and Girls' Athletics Championships -- which involves the four top female high school teams in the country: Hydel, Edwin Allen, St Jago, and Holmwood Technical.

"At this moment, there is uncertainty that the Central Championships will be held here, and the organisers are looking at different venues. However, we are hopeful that the track will be ready by the time that meet comes around," McCarthy concluded.

-Raymond Graham