Ryon Jones, STAR Writer

In their continued quest to once again become a dominant force on the collegiate sporting scene and beyond, Mico University College has embarked on a massive recruitment drive to strengthen all of their sporting disciplines.

The 175-year-old institution, which was upgraded to a university college in 2006, has from its inception had sports as a part of its fabric, especially cricket. It has, however, in recent years seen its exploits in the sporting arena give way to academic achievements, while their counterparts such as the University of Technology (UTech), University of the West Indies (UWI) and G.C. Foster College of Physical Education and Sports, have forged ahead.

Mico's sports director, Raymond 'KC' Graham, who assumed the role last year, is enthused by the institution's new recruits, as he looks to put up a greater challenge on the inter-collegiate scene.

"It is getting very competitive now and we want to make sure we are on par or better than the rest," Graham said. "This is the start of big things because people saw our improvements last year and want to come here."

He added: "I am happy about the new students who have come in and they are going to make a big impact on the sports programme here and this is just the start."

I am very excited

Graham, a renowned track and field coach who has been on the national coaching staff for numerous years and been to major international meets such as the Olympics and World Championships, is happy to have returned to collegiate coaching in Jamaica, after a few years' absence.

"I am very excited that I am going to be doing something that I love," Graham said.

"I have been very jealous of the performances at the University Games of colleges like UTech, UWI and G.C. Foster.

"So I am going to ensure that at the next University Games at least three Miconians will be on the team," he added.

Mico's emphasis on track and field is evidencedby the number of recruits in this particular sporting discipline, a total of 10.

The highest profile athlete is Rochelle Clayton from Vere Technical High. She won bronze at the GraceKennedy-sponsored Boys and Girls' Champs in the 400m hurdles and repeated the feat at the Penn Relays, before finishing fourth at the CARIFTA Games.

She is joined by the Holmwood Technical pair of Patricia Powell, who does the steeplechase, and Seleena Clarke. Kenseisha Stewart of Edwin Allen, who was a finalist in the javelin at Champs, has also joined the Mico programme, along with sprinter and long jumper Chantal Simms of Manchester High.

Trudy-Ann Richards, who two years ago was part of Camperdown's female 4x100 team and Deandria Clarke of The Queen's School, who formed part of their 4x100 and 4x400 teams, complete the female track and field recruits.

finalist at Champs

On the male side they have acquired Bellefield High's Selvin Facey, who was a finalist at Champs in the 800m and 1500m back in 2009, along with two young sprinters from Dinthill High, Alrick Morgan and Rayon Headley.

Additionally, the senior netball team, which is coached by national assistant coach Annette Daley, won the collegiate Intermediate competition and finished runners-up in the Senior League.

The netball team has also been strengthen with the addition of three players. Two of these players, Vangalee Williams, who has represented the national under-21 team and national under-21 invitee, Rosemarie Rochester, are past students of Holmwood Technical. The third player is former Mannings student Keriesa Kesna.

The institution's strong cricket team has also been bolstered with addition of Jason Dawes, who has played for Jamaica at the under-15, under-19 and senior levels; and Ramon Senior, who has played for the West Indies at the under-15 level and for the past three years has been apart of Jamaica's under-19 team.

Dexter Nesbeth and Andre Beckford, who are two outstanding footballers from Manchester High, have been added to the sports programme, with the latter also having played for Mile Gully in the Super League.

The rugby team, which was formed last year and did very wel,l finishing third in the Intercol 20s competition, will be strengthen by the addition of Romaine Campbell, who toured recently with the Jamaica's national team to Canada.