MEMORABLE, SUCCESSFUL were just two of the words used by head coach of Excelsior’s track team, David Riley, before he had to jet off to the Carifta Games at the Kirani James Stadium in St George’s, Grenada, for his next assignment.
The technical director of Jamaica’s team to those Carifta Games where the country mined 84 medals had just a week earlier designed an Excelsior sprinting masterclass at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championship at the National Stadium.
Excelsior finished eighth in both the boys and girls’ categories at Champs a year earlier, jumped four places, finishing behind the trio of Kingston College (335), Jamaica College (278) and Calabar (194) with 112 points of their own. The girls finished eighth again with 64 points.
According to Riley, the performance of the boys surpassed the pre-Champs talks they had as a group.
“The boys exceeded my projection, we were able to finish in the top five as the athletes dug in and did better than we had initially planned. It was certainly successful for us as we did establish that we have an elite programme and we are developing the skill set and talents. Something we are happy for,” said Riley.
While The Eagles maintained their eighth-place position on the girls’ side, Riley was more disappointed with the 2023 showing.
“Last year some of the athletes got sick during the championship, therefore eighth place wouldn’t have been reflective of the quality of the team. However, this year we did what we could and so we’re pleased,” he explained.
While Riley is willing to do what it takes to make Excelsior title contenders a Champs, achieving that feat isn’t down to just him.
“That’s up to Excelsior. They have to desire that and the school ultimately determines if they want to win or not. If they make that decision, then we’ll advise on how they’ll need to get that done,” said Riley.
From a general standpoint, he shared that while he pleased with the overall five-day athletics championships, minor tweaks could be made to improve performance from the athletes.
“I think it could have been a little better in terms of the scheduling. However, we just have to operate within the confines of what we have. Also there’s still some resistance to some of the changes that are necessary to protect the athletes.”