Raymond Graham, STAR Writer

( L - R ) Chris-Ann Gordon (Holmwood), Ristananna Tracey (Edwin Allen), Sasha-Gaye Marston (Edwin Allen) - File

( L - R ) Stefan Fennell (KC), Traves Smikle (Calabar)

THE 2011 staging of the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys' and Girls' Championships will get under way at the National Stadium tomorrow morning at 8:15, with the boys' decathlon 100 metres the first event on the track.

Following last year's exciting 100th anniversary meet, another exciting four days of action is expected. Defending girls' champions, Holmwood Technical, a team hunting their ninth consecutive title, will be under severe threat from favourites Edwin Allen High. Among the boys, defending champions Wolmer's Boys , Kingston College, Jamaica College and Calabar High are expected to engage in a close battle for top honours.

triple jump

Three finals will be decided tomorrow, two girls' and boys'. The girls' finals are the triple jump open which gets under way at 1:30 p.m and the Class One discus final at 3:25 p.m. The lone boys' final, Class One long jump, begins at 5:20 p.m.

Based on the finals to be contested on the opening day, Edwin Allen, who are very strong favourites to end Holmwood's near-decade dominance, are expected to take the early lead among the girls; while both Kingston College and Wolmer's could be the joint early leaders among the boys.

St Elizabeth Technical's Opal James and St Jago High's Avril McGee are expected to fight out the finish of the triple jump, as both are the only two to have gone over 12 metres so far this season. At the Carifta Trials, James, a Class Two athlete, won the Under-17 event with a season-leading 12.24 metres while McGee captured the Under-20 event with 12.17 metres.

good finish

In last year's final, James was ninth and McGee, tenth. Both could, however, be surprised by The Queen's School's Shantol Shirley, while Edwin Allen's Kimberly Williamson will be hoping for a good finish to give her school some valuable points.

The strength of the Michael Dyke-coached Edwin Allen team will come to the fore in the other final, discus Class One. They are expected to get maximum points through team captain Sasha-Gaye Marston and former Frome Technical athlete Danniel Thomas. Both have gone over 46 metres in the event this season, and are expected to continue their fine form here.

St Jago's Fayon Gonzales was expected to split the Edwin Allen pair, but she has lost her good early-season form. Others expected to figure are Samantha Hall, also of St Jago, and St Hugh's High's Devene Brown.

Following his second-place finish in the Class One long jump last year, the experienced Ramone Bailey should give the defending champions Wolmer's a perfect start in their bid to defend their title successfully. He has been the most consistent jumper in the event, but cannot take things for granted as Kingston College's Jerome Wilson will be hoping for an upset while his teammate Ryon Walcott, who was sixth last year, will be hoping for an improved performance here to give the North Street school some quality points. Calabar's Demar Robinson and Herbert Morrison's Tevaskie Lewin should add to the competitiveness of the event.

On the track, there will be first-round action in the 800 metres, followed by the 200 metres, 400 metres hurdles, 2000 metres steeplechase, which will be contested for the first time, and the 4x100 metres relays. Other boys' preliminary events are the Class One discus, Class One long jump and high jump Class Three. There will also be preliminaries for the girls' Class Three high jump, and Class Three discus.