Woolery keeping junior athletes fit

Despite the interruption of the 2020 track and field season due to the coronavirus pandemic, Machel Woolery, coach of Petersfield High School, has proven that he has managed to keep at least three of his athletes in competitive shape after they turned out at two editions of the Velocity Fest at Jamaica College over the past two weeks.

World youth champion Antonio Watson, who turned out for the 100m, ran an impressive 10.70 at the first edition on July 11. He came back last week and lowered his season best to an even more impressive 10.54s on Saturday. Shaquena Foote, who ran the 400m hurdles two Saturdays ago, posting 1.05.51 minute, turned out on Saturday for the flat one-lap event to 1.02.60. Sprinter Kayly Guthrie ran 26.42 seconds at the first edition, before Saturday's 26.56 in the 200m.

"Just like everyone else, they were at home relatively inactive, but we communicate over the phone with some activities. However, we started back some work at the end of May to keep them active. It's a small group, so it's not hard to work with. We are still limited in terms of access to a facility, but we still see what we can do with what we have," Woolery said.

LOOKING AHEAD

When asked what is he trying to achieve this year by having his athletes in competition now, Woolery noted that he is already looking ahead to next season.

"It's just a part of our bigger plan. We would have finished the season sometime this month if it wasn't for COVID-19, because we were looking towards World Juniors, which would have been this month. I just want to see them through the rest of the season, and I wouldn't want them to be home inactive because it can affect performances for next year. You know l always strive for global meets every year; yes, Champs is a part of the picture, but most definitely we are looking forward to next season," Woolery said.

Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) president, Dr Warren Blake is impressed at how Woolery has managed to maintain fitness levels of his junior athletes.

"It is good to see. They have to maintain their fitness for next season so that when training starts they won't be starting from zero. We would hope that they (other junior athletes) are doing some sort of training to keep their fitness levels up," Blake said.