Dyke pleased with resilience of track programme

Track and field head coach at Edwin Allen High School, Michael Dyke, was very pleased with the performances of his girls at the recent Audret E/Kevon Robinson Invitational Meet, held at Foga Road High School.

The present season has been a very challenging one for the Frankfield-based team as they seek to reclaim their title after a narrow defeat to Hydel High last year, with several setbacks delaying their preparation.

Earlier, the programme was put on hold after a member of the team fell ill during training and, after being rushed to hospital in Mandeville, later died. As a result, the programme was shut down and all athletes were required to undergo mandatory medical examinations before training could resume.

Just after returning to training, they suffered another setback when Hurricane Melissa caused damage to sections of the school’s buildings, including the dormitories. This forced another delay, with students being sent home days ahead of the hurricane.

With these various setbacks, the 10-time champions are yet to get into full gear with their preparation, and with champions Hydel showing good form at two recent developmental meets, time is definitely against the former champions.

However, with their athletes competing in track shoes only at their first meet and still producing good results across the different classes, Dyke liked what he saw and is now ready to go full speed ahead as preparations are stepped up.

“I was very pleased with the girls’ overall performances at the meet, given the setbacks and challenges we have faced this season,” said Dyke.

“We are basically six weeks behind in preparation since September, but the girls showed resilience, focus and a clear understanding of what is at stake as we look towards reclaiming the [ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships] title, which we narrowly lost to Hydel last season.

“This meet mainly served as a benchmark to assess where we are. With the athletes not yet training in spikes, the performances were encouraging and gives us confidence as we continue to build towards Champs.”

Edwin Allen had several double champions at the meet, but the athlete who had fans talking the most was Class 4’s Monique Bogle. She was an impressive winner in both the 150 metres and 300 metres, especially the latter, where she clocked an outstanding 42.26 seconds – the third-fastest time overall on the day across all classes.