The Athletic Association of Guyana’s flagship event, the Senior National Track and Field Championships will run off this weekend at the National Track and Field Centre at Leonora.
President of the association, Aubrey Hutson, confirmed the staging of the fixture yesterday after rumours surfaced that the meet which has been low-key would be postponed.
“The championships is going to be on this weekend”, Hutson said. “We are now loading our entries and we are going to determine whether we will have a Saturday and Sunday meet or a Sunday alone meet, but so far it’s looking like both Saturday and Sunday as we expect a big turnout of the athletes.”
Hutson added: “We expect very keen competition, we are looking for some key match ups, we are looking for the (Kevin) Bailey/(Devon) Barrington matchup in the middle distance races, we are looking at the Hooper sisters, Natricia and Natrena competing in the 400m. We also have Chantoba Bright competing in the triple jump and the Cassey George/Andrea Foster match up in the 1500m.”
Athletes are scheduled to get in the blocks at noon.
Hutson disclosed that so far he has received entries from the Guyana Defence Force, Running Brave Athletic Club, Christianburg/Wismar and Upper Demerara Schools.
The AAG head also revealed that “$20,000 will go into every race.” The top three finishers in each event will be rewarded. $10,000 will go to the winner while the second and third place finishers will pocket $6000 and $4000 respectively.
Hutson also told Stabroek Sport that he has received the full cooperation from the Permanent Secretary with responsibility for Sport, Alfred King with regards to the use of the synthetic facility which was commissioned on April 17 of this year.
He also encouraged patrons to support the meet with their presence. As customary, the annual championships will be used as a yardstick for selection of athletes to represent Guyana at overseas events.
