ATHLETICS will form part of the showcase for the opening of the Leonora synthetic track next month.Minister of Sport Dr Frank Anthony, Director of Sport Neil Kumar and Athletics Association president Aubrey Hutson visited the facility yesterday.

Track and Field has been given a half-hour slot.
The planned date for the opening is Friday, March 27. The opening of the facility should be an evening affair, with events under lights.
Hutson said the artificial surface is in order for the event. The executive of the association will meet to finalise events and the age group of the athletes who will be on show.
Hutson said, given the limited time slot, a few of the shorter distances will be run.
It has been touted that the top athletes from the CARIFTA Trials on March 7-8 will give those in attendance a glimpse of their talent.
The CARIFTA Games will be held April 4-6 in St Kitts and Nevis.
The association’s vice-president Gavin Hope, at an AAG Retreat last year, said he is hoping to send 15 athletes to the games, once they make the qualifying times and distances for the respective events.
Chronicle Sport understands that the Ministry is looking to have two top world-ranked Caribbean athletes make an appearance at the opening ceremony. The Leonora synthetic track was certified by the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) in September last year.
Dr Anthony recently said the finishing touches were being put on the facility. The long-awaited opening the minister said was due to the non-completion of the clubhouse.
Meantime, the association at its Council Meeting held on Saturday, February 14 took the decision to postpone the planned National High Schools Championship to 2016. It was set for March 21-22 this year.
The AAG was hoping to host the best athletes from nine districts but all arrangements were not finalised in time to host the event.
Had it been held, it would have been the first AAG-sanctioned event. The Annual National Schools Athletics Championships is not sanctioned by the association; as such the times and distances recorded by the Ministry are not recognised outside Guyana’s borders.

(By Leeron Brumell)