The overall quality of the performances were relatively weak but there was a lot to cheer about at last weekend's 23rd Howard Jackson Relays held on the grounds of Paul Bogle Junior High in Morant Bay.

The relay meet has over the years become the place to be in St. Thomas on the third Saturday in January each year. The Morant Bay community was out in large numbers to cheer on their favourite athletes. Meet director Garth Gayle ensured that events were run in a timely manner and there was hardly a dull moment. Executive members of the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association, including president Howard Aris and vice-president Grace Jackson, were also present to add their support.

On the track, the dominant school among the females was St. Jago, who won nine of 10 relays for high-school girls. Among the males, Calabar, Kingston College, Jamaica College and St. Jago shared the honours.

Calabar, the defending Inter-Secondary champions, gave some hints that they would be difficult to beat this year. They looked particularly strong in the Class Two 4x150m where Earl Lee will be one to watch in top meets such as the Gibson Relays on February 23 and the GraceKennedy Boys' and Girls' Championships, March 12-15.

Jc also impress

Jamaica College's Class Two 4x600m quartet, led by middle-distance ace Waqar DaCosta, were also impressive in winning by over three seconds from Calabar. In Class One, Kingston College's Andrian Bonner, Donahue Williams, two outstanding Class Two athletes from last year, also ran powerful 600m legs and appear to be on target for excellent perfor-mances later this season.

With top track and field schools such as Holmwood Technical, Vere Technical, Manchester High, Edwin Allen High, St. Andrew High and Immaculate missing from the meet, the way was open for St. Jago to dominate the girls' relays. From a national standpoint, the JAAA leaders present would have been happy to see Carrie Russell of St. Thomas Technical in action, running the 400m leg of the distance medley open. Russell, who won a bronze medal in the 100 metres at the 2006 World Junior Championships in Beijing, China, missed most of last season as a result of a hamstring injury.

With many top schools now opting out of the Morant Bay relay carnival, the organisers of the Howard Jackson Relays should start planning from now to sell next year's meet. The competition, especially among the girls, was way too weak and even those who made the trip this year could be having second thoughts about 2009. One big turn-off is the road from Kingston to Morant Bay which is extremely bad in many places, including the Yallahs fording, which has been in a terrible state for several years.

Eastern jamaica clash?

I would suggest that the organisers market the meet as a clash of eastern Jamaica teams and send special invitations to schools such as Titchfield High, Port Antonio High, Oberlin High, Seaforth High, St. Mary High, Happy Grove High, St. Mary Technical and Islington High. It could be billed as a warm-up for Eastern Championships which comes up on the day before Ash Wednesday. In the past, many of these schools may have shunned the relays because they did not see themselves competing well against the likes of Holmwood, Vere, Edwin Allen, St. Andrew High and Man-chester. With many of those so-called big teams now staying away from the Jackson Relays, the meet should now become an eastern festival.

Send your feedback to elton.tucker@gleanerjm.com.