Jamaican invasion for sixth Boyce/Jefford Track and Field Classic

Jul 24, 2015 Sports

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Stakeholders anticipate another successful competition

Jamaican athletes will invade Guyana for the Boyce & Jefford Track and Field Classic VI, which is scheduled for August 15-16 at the Mackenzie Sports Club Ground, Linden as stakeholders met yesterday at Sleep Inn Hotel to officially launch the 2015 Championships.
According to Chairman of the Boyce/Jefford Committee, Colin Boyce, four Jamaican athletes and a Coach from Racers Track Club in Jamaica, will match strides with local and other athletes from the Caribbean when the first pistol fires on August 15 in Linden.
The Jamaican athletes are Nicholas Maitland (200m), Keno Burrell (400m), Deandre Whitehorne (100m) and Seidatha Palmer (200m) with Coach Patrick Dawson. The athletes will compete in the International sprint events scheduled for the meet.
“The sixth edition of the Boyce & Jefford Classic will see track and field in Guyana moving to a next level. We are committed to providing quality competition for our athletes,” Boyce indicated before announcing the International Events.
Boyce informed the audience of coaches and athletes from clubs that International Events include the male 200m, 800m and Long Jump and female 200m, 1500m and Triple Jump. He said that the Committee is mulling adding the male and female 100m to the list, providing that sponsorship for those are secured.
The six International Events will fetch a purse of US$500 per race with the winner taking home a sum of US$250, second US$150 and third US$100. Meanwhile, the winning club takes home the sum of $600,000 (Guy); second place $400,000, third $250,000 and fourth $150,000. The leading male and female athletes will get $50,000 each.
In cash, the athletics meet will dole out over $2M in addition to the trophies and medals that will be up for grabs. Apart from Jamaica, Boyce disclosed that The Bahamas will also debut this year with Petra McDonald (100m, 200m) confirmed to compete.
Trinidad and Tobago is expected to send Mark London for the 800m Male race and Tonya Nero for the 1500m and 3000m Women, along with another athlete. Suriname’s 2014 bronze medallist in the 100m at the meet, Danielle Clarke will also return.
Grenada’s Kenisha Pascal will compete in the 1500m Women and St. Vincent and the Grenadines Josh Hamilton will battle in the 100m and 200m sprint events. Boyce said that the 2015 meet will be an International Track and Field Classic with the influx of athletes from the Caribbean.
Sponsors lauded the efforts and commitment to development of the Boyce & Jefford Organisation while Director of Sport, Christopher Jones pledged the support of Government and National Sport Commission (NSC) to the Organising Committee and the meet.
“The NSC is committed to sport and youth development. I give my personal commitment and the commitment of Government to be on board for years to come,” Jones stated, adding that the work of the Boyce/Jefford Organisation in sports is commendable.
Events and Sponsorship Manager of the main sponsor, Digicel Guyana Inc., Gavin Hope said that the meet is the most prestigious athletics competition in Guyana and urged all and sundry to assist in “making this meet the biggest in the history of Guyana”.
“We applaud the efforts and successes of the Boyce & Jefford Organisation for sticking with it. I applaud them. They have produced tremendous success; from one international athlete to having a club (Jamaica) coming now is tremendous development,” Hope said.
He informed that Digicel has been on board from the inception and will continue to support what has definitely become a significant calendar event for sports in Guyana. “I want to urge you guys to continue to contribute to the development of athletics in Guyana,” he added.
Another foundation sponsor, Ansa McAl under its Smalta Brand, echoed similar sentiments when Non-Alcoholic Brand Manager, Anjeta Hinds said that it is one of the focuses of the company that they assist in helping youths grow and develop.
“We are so happy; this is not small initiative. I always applaud Boyce & Jefford for the ways that they keep this event growing. I have no doubt that we will continue to be on board,” Hinds stated, adding that Guyana will produce its own successes in athletics.
Sales Executive at Caribbean Airlines, Dion Inniss, commended the Organisers for sustaining the meet in Linden despite the “temptation” might have developed to shift it to the Synthetic Facility at Leonora. Inniss said that sports and events have to be decentralised.
“Let me congratulate you gentlemen in persisting in hosting this event. I know the difficulty that is involved in organising events of this magnitude. You may have been tempted to move away the event to the new facility, but I am happy you resisted that temptation,” Inniss said.
“I am happy you stuck with Linden and hopefully now that the Government is on board, the event will grow from strength to strength,” Inniss added. The Boyce & Jefford Committee had indicated that they will not move the meet from its birthplace, Linden.
Co-Founder of the meet, Edison Jefford disclosed that with this being the sixth year, six or seven gate prizes will be given away to the value of $250,000 to lucky patrons. Those include $30,000 cash, a smart phone, food hamper, his and her watch set and a 10 pennyweight gold chain among other items. The meet begins at 1pm each day.

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