All set for National Club Championships finals this Saturday

The field is set for the staging of the National Club Championships in track and field, this Saturday at the Arnos Vale One Playing Field.{{more}}

But, in comparison with last year’s finals, there has been reduced participation from units.

In the 2013 edition, the participating entities were IT-DAT, X-Cel, X-Ceed, Lightning, Chatoyers, the St Vincent Grammar School, as well small contingents from Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago.

This time around, however, when the heats were staged last Saturday at the same venue, only IT-DAT, the defending champion, X-Cel, X-Ceed, the Bequia Community High School Athletics Club and the Union Island Secondary School showed up.

This is against the back- drop of a desire by the executive of Team Athletics SVG to have several communities across St Vincent and the Grenadines get themselves organized into clubs, not only for track and field, but for other sporting disciplines.

Apart from the preliminary events last Saturday, there were the finals of the men’s 5,000 m and the women’s 3,000 m.

Pamenos Ballantyne won the men’s 5,000 m, followed by Josnel Ashton, making it one and two for X-Ceed, with Kimali Peters of IT-DAT third.

Ballantyne has been the driving force for the existence of Chatoyers’ participation in national track and field and road races over the years.

Like Ballantyne, top female long distance athlete Linda Mc Dowall, representing IT-DAT, copped the women’s 3,000 m, with X-Ceed’s Kerina Hooper, second.

And, despite the drop off in clubs, Saturday’s rivalry is not only among the clubs who are fighting for turf, but the coaches as well.

IT-DAT has as its coach Michael “Lord Have Mercy” Ollivierre, while X-Ceed ‘s head man is Godfrey “Fuzzy” Harry, with Rawlson Morgan at the helm of the operations at X-Cel.(RT)