Athletes from all across the country will descend upon the Excelsior High School on December 9 to take part in the 20th Wesley Powell Benjamins Track & Field Meet.
The meet which begins at 8:30 am is one of the earliest in the track and field calendar each season and is used by most coaches as a testing ground for a number of their athletes.
The Full size 9-Lane 400m grass Track, newly refurbished at a cost of $1.5 million, on which the athletes will run, will see them compete in running shoes as spikes will only be allowed for field events. The stance is being taken by the event organizers based on recent research.
There will be a separate warm-up and marshalling area and a Separate area for the Javelin throw and Shot put.
The meet was first held on December 5, 1998, as the demand for development meets in Jamaica became apparent and it has continued strong ever since.
The first meet saw 21 schools and 53 athletes competing and now participation has swelled to 1700 athletes representing 51 schools.
There will be 48 track events and 32 field events for both boys and girls.
The track events include the 150m, 300m, 600m, 1000m, 3000m Open for girls, the 5000m Open for boys and the 4x300m.
The field events contested will be the shot put, long jump, high jump, javelin throw and the pole vault Open for men.