( L - R ) Ramone McKenzie and Yohan Blake - Anthony Foster

By Anthony Foster, Freelance Writer

philadelphia

The inclusion of Carifta Games Under-20 200m champion Ramone McKenzie in Calabar's sprint relay team for the Penn Relays has the attention of St. Jago coach Danny Hawthorne.

But Hawthorne was quick to point out his team has what it takes to dethrone Calabar as the high school 4x100m champs.

"These guys (other teams) love to perform and given the inclusion of McKenzie, yes, they might do better, but I think I have the 'real McCoy', the four 'real McCoys'. We can do it if we just put our heads to it and perform as expected," explained Hawthorne.

The 113th Penn Relays begins today at the Franklyn Field Stadium in the American city of Philadelphia.

Asked if they will be chasing any records, Hawthorne said: "I am just here for performance improvement, so if we can go out there and execute what we have done for the last few weeks, hopefully that might just be enough to give us an excellent performance."

He was also quick to say, "I am not going to make any predictions right now, because the weather is a factor, so I will just wait and see," he told STAR Sports in an interview in his hotel lobby yesterday.

Last month, Hawthorne had made it clear that Penn Relays would be his team's next stop and 'fireworks' could be expected, while adding that the boys would target the national junior record of 39.15 seconds.

"I am not in the ego performance, I am here for improvement of performance over the last time we performed and maybe, if we can do that, it might be able to bring us some other success," he pointed out.

The quartet of Rikor Hylton, Andrew Walsh, Nickel Ashmeade, and Yohan Blake ran 40.37 to beat the Boys Championships Class One record set by Camperdown in 2006.

Meanwhile, Holmwood's girls are strong favourites to retain their 4x100, 4x400m and 4x800m tittles.

Manchester High, St. Jago and Edwin Allen, along with Eleanor Roosevelt of Maryland, could test the defending champions in the 4x400m, and 4x800m relays, while Long Beach Poly and Rancho Verde of California will join the party in the 4x400 and 4x100m.

Action in the college section will also get under way and G.C. Foster College and the University of Technology should carry the Jamaican schools' flags.

In individual events, Champs and Carifta champion Shana-Gaye Tracey of Manchester, Holm-wood's Andrea Reid, Edwin Allen's Andrea Sutherland and Judith Riley of Manchester will clash in the 400m hurdles for girls, while Rikor Hylton of St. Jago is down for the boys event.