Raymond Graham, Star Writer

One of the top performers at the recently concluded Boys and Girls' Championships, Ristananna Tracey, will not take part in next week's Carifta Games to be held on local soil at the Catherine Hall Stadium, in Montego Bay.

Edwin Allen High's Tracey, who had three wins in personal-best times, which also included a record run in the 400 metres hurdles, will miss the event as she did not participate at the Carifta trials and no medical report was given for her absence, and that rules her out. She will be surely missed as she is in the best form of her life.

However, while Tracey will be missed, fans will not be short of quality performances as one of the most eagerly awaited clashes will be in the girls' Under-20 400 metres. Champs new Class II 400 metres record holder Chris Ann Gordon, who raced to a World Junior leading time of 51.62 seconds, will get a chance to avenge her defeat last year at the hands of the Bahamas' Shaunae Miller in Santo Domingo, at the Junior Central American and Caribbean Championships.

improved tremendously

Miller, who recorded an upset at the World Junior Championships in Moncton, Canada, last year when she won the girl's 400 metres in 52.52 seconds, has improved tremendously and her clash with Gordon could be one of the higfhlights of the meet, with both competing in the Under-20 category for the first time.

Recently, the Jamaica Amateur Athletics Association announced a list of over 70 athletes who will represent the country. Fans from the western end of the island will get a chance to see some of the country's top local athletes, who just came off some blistering performances at the Boys and Girls' Athletics Championships. With the athletes getting a few days off from their performances at Champs, fans can expect some more stellar performances.

Jamaica should dominate and it will be interesting to see if they can surpass their medal tally of 72 at last year's Carifta Games in the Cayman Islands.

That medal haul included 37 gold, 22 silver and 13 bronze. With the intensity coming from Champs and with the Penn Relays to come a few days after the Carifta Games, many of the athletes involved could fail to match their performances at Champs, but a good showing is expected.