( l - r ) Ristanana Tracey, Shericka Jackson - file photos

The National Stadium is expected to be buzzing with excitement tomorrow as the 35th annual Gibson Relays gets underway at 9:30 a.m, with the heats of the high-school boys' 4x400 metres set to get things rolling.

Tomorrow's staging of the meet will be its first in the month of March, as the event which is usually held on the last Saturday in February, was in danger of being cancelled this year, due to the unavailability of the Stadium track after renovation work.

With the ISSA Boys and Girls' Championships just over two weeks away, action between the high-school teams should be fierce and furious, as the top teams will be hoping to send strong statements. Several teams are at their peak but several of the top coaches will be very cautious and will not want any kind of injury to their top athletes.

Based on competition so far this season, it should be close going in all relays, and as no one team has dominated, the likelihood honours being evenly shared at the end of the day is a high one.

a thriller

One of the events which will draw a lot of attention tomorrow is the girls' 4x400 metres relay and Vere Technical, Holmwood Technical and Edwin Allen should have fans on the edges of their seats in what is expected to be a thriller. All three teams have looked awesome for this season, but it is the Vere Technical team that has tongues wagging, based on their performance at the Camperdown Classics. Running unchallenged, Vere clocked 3:41.65 seconds, as the quartet of Yanique McNeil, Shericka Jackson, Chantal Duncan and Olivia James looked in fantastic form. If fit, Deandra Whitehorne is expected to be included, making it a frightening prospect.

Despite the credentials of Vere Technical, both Holmwood Technical and Edwin Allen are not expected to be spectators. Holmwood, with World Junior representatives Chris-Ann Gordon and Janieve Russell, are hoping to maintain their team's excellent record in the mile relay. With Champs so close they could be very dangerous, although their record at Gibson is not an excellent one in the event.

The Michael Dyke-coached team could be the one to beat, as at Western Relays they ran 3:40.62 to win the event, which is the fastest time among all teams so far this season. With the very talented Ristananna Tracey in top form and with the likes of Jossette Campbell, Sashwana French and Sharnete Lewin set to join the line-up, they could go all the way.

favoured

In the 4x100 metre events no one team is expected to dominate as Herbert Morrison are favoured in class I, but Edwin Allen with three members of last year's Penn Relay squad are a big danger and Holmwood are expected to give their usual best in this class. Vere Technical are favourites to win Class II, while Holmwood in Class III and Edwin Allen in Class IV are expected to come out on top.

Like the females it should be the same among the males, with the boys' 4x400 metres also expected to take centre stage. Several weeks ago, Munro were the hot favourites to win the event, following their impressive showing at the Central Hurdles and Relay meet, where the quartet of Waynee Hyman, Rolando Reid, Kaniel Harrison and Delano Williams were impressive in clocking a season-leading 3:14.18.

But since then they have not fielded their strong quartet, due to injury to Harrison, and this could hurt their chances. That situation opens the way for teams like St Jago, St Elizabeth Technical and Kingston College.

Among the clubs and institutions, top teams Racers and MVP are expected to battle all the way in both the male and female events, with the likes of the University of Technology and Sprint Tech expected to give good accounts of themselves.