RAYMOND GRAHAM, STAR Writer

After weeks of intense high-school rivalries, the focus will switch today and tomorrow as the island's leading junior athletes will be competing for places on the national team as the Carifta Trials will be held inside the National Stadium.

Top Under-20 and under-18 athletes will be hoping to make it to the 44th Carifta Games, which will be held in St Kitts & Nevis, April 4-6.

Competition at the two-day trial is expected to be very fierce as athletes are nearing their peak with just three weeks to go before the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association Boys' and Girls' Athletics Championships.

They will want to put on a great show here. Thirty-one finals are scheduled for today, with 15 on the track and 16 in the field.

The girls' Under-18 400 metres hurdles will be the first track event down for competition at 11 a.m. . The girls' Under-18 triple jump finals will the first field event, also at 11 a.m.

Following heats of the 100m, the finals of both Under-18 and Under -20 males and females will be contested at 2:30 p.m.

Good competition

The girls' Under-18 event is expected to be a hot affair as St Jago's outstanding Kimone Shaw, the defending champion, will be hard-pressed here as she is expected to get good competition from her teammate, Shaniel English and Edwin Allen's Shellece Clarke.

English, who will miss Girls' Championships this year, is in great form following her impressive show at the Gibson McCook Relays last Saturday where she ran 11.63 seconds in the invitational women's 100m, in coming third.

Shaw has a score to settle with English as English defeated her in the event in class two at Champs last year.

With Kingston College's Jhevaughn Matherson set to miss the boys' event, it looks like a Calabar affair with Dejour Russell and Tyreke Wilson set to fight to the finish.

In the girls' Under-20 event, Wolmer's girls' Shauna Helps is rounding into good form, following her impressive win at the Corporate Area Championships a few weeks ago.

There, she ran her first 100m and won in style. St Jago's Natalliah Whyte along with Vere's Renae Medley and Holmwood's Sashalee Forbes should all make this a humdinger.

Calabar's Michael O'Hara will lead the charge in the Under-20 100m where he is expected to get good challenges from his teammate, Edward Clarke, and St Jago's Raheem Chambers.

Today's finals

2:30 p.m.: Under-18 girls' 100m

2:36 p.m.: under-18 boys' 100m

2:40 p.m: Under-20 boys' 100m

2:45 p.m.: Under-20 boys' 100m

2:50 p.m.: 5000M boys' Under-20

3;15 p.m.: Under-18 girls' 400m hurdles

3:25 p.m.: Under-20 girls' 400m hurdles

3:36 p.m.: Under-18 boys' 400m hurdles

3:46 p.m.: under-20 boys' 400m hurdles

3:56 p.m.: Under-18 girls' 800m

4:00 p.m.: Under-18 boys' 800m

4:06 p.m.: Under-20 girls' 800m

4:10 p.m.: Under-20 boys' 800m

FIELD EVENTS

11:00 a.m.: Under-18 girls' triple jump

11:01 a.m.: Under-20 girls' triple jump

12:01 p.m.: Under-18 boys' high jump

12:02 p.m.: Under-18 javelin girls

12:03 p.m.: Under-20 javelin girls

12:04 p.m.: under-18 shot put girls

1:00 p.m.: Under -18 girls' discus

1:30 p.m.: Under-18 girls' long jump

1:32 p.m.: Under-18 boys' javelin

1:33 p.m.: Under-20 boys' javelin

2:30 p.m.: Under-20 boys' discus

2:45 p.m.: Under-20 boys' pole vault

2:45 p.m: Under-20 boys' long jump

2:46 p.m.: Under-18 girls' high jump

4:00 p.m.: Under-20 girls' discus

4:01 p.m.: Under-20 girls' long jump