AFTER AN encouraging 4×100-metre relay sweep last Saturday, Hydel High School head coach Corey Bennett is hopeful that his team will do well at the Gibson McCook Relays inside the National Stadium on Saturday.

Bennett is looking for a measure of improvement from his squads over their performances at last week’s Wint/McKenley Classic and, in particular, wants an injury-free day.

In the 4x100s, Hydel sped to the fastest times of the season in class II and III at 45.42 and 46.35 seconds, respectively, and posted the number 2 time in class 1, 45.37 seconds. Speaking on Monday, Bennett said, “We just had to get a run in on Saturday just so we’re not wondering what we’re doing on Saturday coming.”

“We have to be careful because we had some persons leave the team for one reason or another and we had to be converting some persons who never ran a 4×1 in their lives, especially in class I to be a part of that pool, so we’re hoping for the best,” said Bennett.

“We’re hoping for an injury-free day. The main thing is for the baton to come around safely before we’re looking at speed and then hopefully, we can be even a little better than we were last Saturday, if it’s even slightly, but we hope to improve every time,” he said.

STRONGEST UNIT

Even though his class I team includes speedy Brianna Lyston and reigning Boys and Girls’ Championships 100-metre hurdles champion Oneeka Wilson on duty, Bennett’s strongest unit is probably in class II.

In-form hurdler Kerrica Hill, the third-leg runner on last year’s world under-20 record-breaking quartet, will join forces with NACAC Under-18 200 champion Alana Reid.

The second fastest time in the class II 4×100 is 46.28 seconds by St Catherine High School.

Last weekend, Lyston blitzed the class I 200 metres in 23.23 seconds and Hill stepped to a personal best 13.25 seconds in the class II 100-metre hurdles. Together with Reid and former class II 400m winner, Onieka McAnuff, they would make up a competitive 4×200 unit but Hydel hasn’t been invited to compete in the two-lap event which has seen no competition so far in 2022.

“Unfortunately, though, they’ve not put us in the 4×200 and I still can’t figure why,” said Bennett.

“If you look at the numbers, you have a girl who made the under-20 200 (final) in Kenya. You have a girl who broke the 200 record at NACAC in Costa Rica,” he said in reference to Lyston and Reid.

Hydel set the existing Gibson McCook 4×200 record at 1:33.82 seconds in 2017.

Raymond Graham