Third President’s/Jefford Classic launched

… Marian Burnett to compete against Caribbean opponents
THIS year’s President’s/Jefford Athletics Classic, the third of its kind that is being
held annually, was yesterday launched at a ceremony which was hosted in the Kingston boardroom of telecommunication giant Digicel.
President of the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) Colin Boyce told those gathered including Public Relations Manager of Digicel, Shonnet Moore, that this year’s event, which will be held at the Mackenzie Sports Club (MSC) ground on May 20, will indeed be a classic.
United States-based middle distance athlete Marian Burnett is expected in Guyana next Monday to compete in the 800 and 1500 metres race at the Classic. Boyce said international opposition is being sought for Burnett in the two events.
“We are not saying that our local athletes cannot provide worthy competition to hold off Marian, but we are looking at adding some spice to the Classic, while creating stronger competition for Marian.
“So we have sent invitations to Barbados, Suriname, Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago, for them to send two middle distance athletes (one male and one female) to compete.
“While we know for sure that the first three have responded positively to our invitation, we are not sure of Trinidad’s participation since they will be having their national championships the day before and according to their Association president, it would be hard for the athletes to travel on the same day of the meet and compete amicably well too,” said Boyce.
Boyce said the two events Burnett will be competing in, will be classified as international events for the day, with the top three finishers receiving cash prizes.
The AAG boss added, “We all know that this is the third edition of the President’s/Jefford Classic and we have on card, 26 individual events, six team events including the relays, and I must indicate to you that we have two events for the Masters and a feature event which I would not elaborate on much for now, but it will be a side attraction including former national sprinters who will be on show.
“I want to indicate that there will be an additional feature, more of an air show during the break. He will be doing a display and drops from one of his model aircraft. ”
Boyce said they are looking at an 11:00hrs start, since there are quite a number of heats to run off and even a few finals early in the morning, before the opening at 14:00hrs.
“We recognise that some athletes would be doing three events, in order to boost their club’s chances of winning the top club prize of $500 000, while we want to give them adequate time to recuperate during the meet.
“We are also looking at the possible merger of the smaller teams, to make the day’s action more competitive for the top club prize, as we recognise that Police, Running Braves and Guyana Defence Force clubs are formidable teams in the sense that they have a large number of athletes to compete.”
“Outside of that, we have a few gate prizes as we wish to give back to the patrons, especially those in Linden, while it is the norm of the organising committee to give to a charitable organisation in the mining community,” said Boyce.
Apart from Burnett, Boyce said Jennifer Chichester is expected to be in Guyana to compete as well, while Barbados, Grenada and Suriname will confirm during this week, the names and arrival dates of their athletes.
In response to what alternative arrangements are being made should the meet be rained out due to the persistent showers that have been plaguing Guyana of late, Boyce said the venue is in immaculate condition, while a team of grounds men will be executing mopping-up duties.
“We will be looking at alternative measures if the weather prevents us from running-off the meet on that day, but we are hoping that we don’t have to resort to such measures, since the ground is a fast one and we expect records to tumble by the wayside.
However, while we know that Marian will be here for a two-week period, we are uncertain as to how long the athletes from the other countries can stay, since some of them would be coming for the meet and leaving shortly after,” Boyce said.
He said the venue, which has won a renovation prize compliment of Ansa McAl’s Stag Beer promotions held during the last Kashif and Shanghai Football Festival, will be undergoing such at the conclusion of the Classic, so that next year a complete 400 metres track will be in place.
In her brief remarks, Moore said her company was pleased to be associated with the Classic for the third successive year.
“Digicel is indeed pleased to be a part of the President’s/Jefford Classic for the third year, having been a part of the meet from the inception.
“We see it as very important for the development of athletics in Guyana and while it will be a very competitive meet, we see it as a unique opportunity for younger athletes to rub shoulders with the stars.
“We will continue to be associated with the meet in the future and we look forward to a fantastic day in Linden, while we urge the public to come out and support this meet, since they will have a firsthand look at the future of athletics for Guyana,” said Moore.
The Classic is being held in memory of former national sprint champion, Elton Jefford, who lost his most important race on 29th October 2008, in the Intensive Care Unit at the Georgetown Public Hospital after suffering from medical complications.
The well-respected former athlete was born on April 8, 1960 at St Lust in the Berbice River where he attended Mount Hermon Lutheran School, before going on to the New Amsterdam Presbyterian School and then Kwakwani Secondary School.
During his young days in Berbice, Jefford showed an interest in athletics and produced some outstanding performances at the Inter-House meets which caught the eyes of his teachers.
However, it was during his working stint at then GUYMINE, the bauxite company in Linden that Jefford sprang to prominence and represented the town with much success against the bitter rivals GUYSTAC in their annual confrontation, leaving the likes of Virgil Lewis, Winston Pearson, George Barry, Clarence Bancroft and Basil Bradshaw in his wake.
It was such dominating performances that made him quickly become one of the country’s premier sprinters, a title he enjoyed for quite a while.
According to Edison Jefford, the son of Elton, the organising committee has been in constant communication with the executives of the venue, who promised to have an ‘A’ class MSC ground in place for the meet.
Some of the clubs who are expected to have their athletes on show, apart from PSC, GDF and Running Braves, are Enmore, Royal, Rising Stars, Ruralites and Linden and apart from the top prize of $500 000, the second- and third-placed clubs will receive $300 000 and $100 000 respectively.

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