Students at the Covenant Christian Academy and Children's Centre (from second left) Khori Bennett, Ashli Findlator and Robyn-Leigh Hearne, greet Carolyn Supersad (left), promotions manager for PediaSure, Cari-Med, which is the official drink of the Covenant/Globe Over-Distance track meet, now in its 10th year. They were at the launch of the meet, held yesterday at Globe Insurance Company on Dominica Drive. - Contributed
It will cost organisers over half a million dollars to host this year's Covenant/Globe Over-Distance Track and Field Athletic Cham-pionships this year.
Luckily for the organisers, Globe Insurance Company of Jamaica Limited increased its sponsorship from $330,000 to $400,000 and with the help of eight associated sponsors, meet director Winston Keyes said they are good to go for next Saturday's meet.
The event, set to start at 8:30 a.m. at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona Bowl, will begin with action in the 400m for Class One girls, the first of 22 events on the card.
Also, Class One girls will run the 200m, while Class One boys will compete in the 500m and 300m. Class Two girls will sprint in the 150m and 100m, while the boys' equivalent will be a bit longer, over 200m and 150m.
In Class Three, there will be action in 90m and 60m for girls and boys, while Class One boys and girls will run 4x300m and Class Two boys and girls 4x200m. Class three athletes will face the starter in the 4x100m relays.
In the field events, classes one and two athletes will engage in long jump competition.
Championships
Keyes, who is also the founder of the championships, explained the reason for an over-distance meet.
"We structured our events in a way to push the athletes beyond the distance they would normally run at the Inter-Prep Track and Field Championships," he said, while adding Class One girls would normally run 300m.
He also used the opportunity to thank the sponsors "for continuing to invest in our athletes".
Nadia Mitchell, marketing officer at Globe Insurance, said: "Our organisation is very pleased to be associated with this event, which is a unique 'warm-up' opportunity for Jamaica's popular Inter-Prep School Championships.
"We at Globe Insurance value the opportunity that a meet such as this opens up," she added