Simoya Campbell of Spalding High scoring an easy victory in the Class One girls' 800 metres final at last week's Central Championships at GC Foster College. - Gladstone Taylor

WHEN the 2012 GraceKennedy/ISSA Boys and Girls Championships gets under way on March 28, one athlete who is sure to attract a lot of attention is Spalding High's Simoya Campbell.

Two years ago, another athlete from central Jamaica, Natoya Goule of Manchester High, left her mark at the championships with brilliant performances in the middle distances. She broke the Class One 1500 metres record by posting a new mark of 4:29.81 and many thought that it would have taken a long time for another athlete to challenge that mark.

However, in the past few weeks Campbell has been creating a "storm" among local female athletes in middle-distance events and Goule's records will be smashed at the upcoming championships.

Campbell showed her class in an epic battle with Edwin Allen High's Dezreen Montaque in the Under 20 girls' 800 metres at the Carifta Trials when she won the event in 2:03.07 to Montaque's 2:03.18 in very windy conditions. The time by both athletes was much better than the "Champs" record of 2:03.75 done in 2004 by former Edwin Allen High athlete, Kayann Thompson.

exceptional performances

At last week's Central Championships, Campbell again underlined her immense talent with two more exceptional performances. She posted record runs of 2:06.6 and 4:26.59 to take the Class One 800-1500m double. Her time in the 1500 metres would have broken the Champs record set by Goule two years ago. It appears the sky is the limit for her as she is competing in the 1500m for the first time this season, and when she broke the record it was only her third time competing in the event.

Campbell has high expectations for the Girls Championships.

"I am very proud of my performances so far this season and when I ran 2:03 in the 800 metres at Carifta Trials I was a bit surprised because although I knew I had that in me I didn't expect to run so fast so early," she said.

Breaking both records at Central Championships also surprised Campbell.

"I did not expect to break both records because I did not have enough competition," said Campbell who singled out Montaque as her main rival for Champs.

At Champs, however, she will forget about her rivals.

"My coach always tells me to run my own race and not to think about anyone else," she said.

In an early warning to her rivals the talented Campbell said she is eyeing even faster times at Champs.

"I want to leave the championships on a high and I am very confident that I can go 2:01 in the 800 metres and 4:17 in the 1500 metres as I am a very focused person and I do not let anything distract me. I am a 'fighter" and anything I want to achieve I will, because of the type of person I am. In anything I do I always put God first and I always listen to the instructions of my coach, Megan Wilson, who has guided me very well so far," she added.