Ayre: Expect a lot of fireworks at East Coast International

BALTIMORE, Maryland:

Meet organiser Sanjay Ayre expects a lot of fireworks at today’s fourth staging of the Puma East Coast International Showcase at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland. The meet starts at 10 a.m.

The event, which is being hosted at Morgan State for the first time, after previously being staged at the P.G. Sports Learning Complex in Landover, Maryland, will feature some of the top high school athletes from Jamaica and the United States, with national schoolgirls’ champions Hydel High leading the Jamaican charge.

“Expect a lot of fireworks at today’s fourth staging of the East Coast International Showcase, as there will be some big clashes here. For the past four months, I’ve been recruiting athletes for this meet. I went to the New Balance Indoor National Championships in Boston in March and recruited all the high school champions in events from 60m to 800m,” said Ayre, who expects the big rivalry between the USA and Jamaica, which was reignited at the Penn Relays recently, to continue.

“Hydel’s girls will be here with their top guns, while Holmwood Technical, Excelsior High, and Denbigh High – who will be making their first appearance – will all be present. We also have athletes from Canada and Haiti competing for the first time at the meet,” added Ayre, who was a member of Jamaica’s 4x400m relay team at the 2000 Olympic Games.

“Having the top athletes performing at the meet brings a level of excitement to the sport, as the goal is to get the best to compete against each other,” Ayre said.

Among the males, Quincy Wilson of Bullis High – who was a member of the United States’ gold medal-winning 4x400m relay team at last year’s Paris Olympic Games – will lead the charge in the flat 400m. He is coming off a record-breaking 43.99 seconds 400m split for his team, which finished second behind Kingston College in the Championship of America High School 4x400m at last week’s Penn Relays in Philadelphia.

All four members of Hydel’s record-breaking Penn Relays 4x400m team will be in action in individual events. Abigail Campbell, who posted a personal best of 52.17 seconds in the 400m at the first Grand Slam meet in Jamaica, will lead the charge. Nastassia Fletcher, who has also gone sub-53 seconds this season, will contest the event, while Jody-Ann Daley will compete in the 100m and Sashana Johnson in the 200m.