Camperdown coach promises surprises at Champs

After spending years in the wilderness, Camperdown High School female track coach, Leacroft Bolt, believes the team is about to rise again.

In the late 1980s and early '90s Camperdown was a force to be reckoned with, producing stars such as Revoli Campbell, Sandra Kidd, Andria Lloyd, twin sisters Maxine and Marlene Dawkins, along with Helena Rochester, and had top- five finishes at the Girls' Championships for several years.

With the exit of those athletes, it has been a long drought for Camperdown but Bolt, who is in his second season at the school, is hoping to change that.

Bolt is no stranger to success as he has guided Manchester High to two national titles and he has had some success at St Andrew High.

"We are trying to build back the girls' programme, and my perspective is not just to bring back sprinting at Camperdown but a complete track and field programme," he said.

"We have the luxury of bringing in a few talented students and this is a plus, but we are looking at it on a broader perspective as we want improvement in all areas," he added.

Bolt is pleased with the sprinters.

"Sprinting has been good so far as although running downhill at Jamaica College, the girls in the 100 metres have all have qualified for Champs, and we have a few good middle-distance runners," he said.

Asked if he thinks he can challenge Wolmer's Girls' for the Corporate Area title, his reply was "yes".

"We are definitely going to challenge Wolmer's as we are building across the board, and when you do this you are able to challenge any school. We have some surprises in store," he said.