#CHAMPS2024 | Naming a champion

The final day of the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls' Athletics Championships guarantees some interesting matchups to close out the five-day track and field carnival at the National Stadium today.

With points, medals and personal pride up for grabs, look at our choices for some of the most anticipated showdowns set to start at Champs today.

A purple Rose vs a maroon trump Card

The Class One boys' 200 metres final is expected to be a massive showdown between Kingston College's (KC) Marcinho Rose and Wolmer's Boys' School Gary Card.

Rose has promised something special this season and his impressive win in the 400 metres final proves the boy from North Street is in the form of his life. Entering the final with a new personal best of 20.79 seconds, Rose is hopeful he'll be the one to cross the line first.

On the other hand, Card has been the leading boy in the 200 metres and has the advantage over Rose this season. He got the better of Rose at the Corporate Area Development Meet when he took the 200 metres title in 20.87 seconds, while Rose had to settle for bronze in 21.43.

Card would better his time at the Carifta Trials when he took the boys' under-20 final with a personal best of 20.79 seconds to cement himself as the fastest schoolboy over the distance on the island this year. With the decision not to contest the 100 metres, Card will be well-rested heading into the final today.

In the mix for a medal in the boys' 200 metres also, will be the 400 metres silver medallist Amal Glasgow of KC, who enters the final with a qualifying time of 21.26 seconds.

Love and a Rose

There definitely, will be eyes on the Class Two girls' 800 metres final, as Jovi Rose of Holmwood Technical High will face off against Edwin Allen's Horecia Love.

These two athletes have been the main attractions throughout the qualifying rounds and the top contenders for the title.

They both qualified through the preliminaries with the two fastest times as Love led the way with 2:19.43 minutes, while Jovi won her preliminaries in 2:19.86, to finish second overall.

It was more of the same in the semi-finals yesterday as Love took heat one in 2:18.12 minutes. Not to be outdone, Jovi won heat two when she stopped the clock at 2:16.33 to set up an exciting clash in the final.

Gardeners farming for gold

It is always a treat when we see siblings competing at the same Championships, and the Wolmerian pair of Mickayla and Mick-Kayla Gardener have caught public attention in the Class One and Class Four girls' 200 metres finals respectively.

In Class One, Mickayla hopes to improve on her bronze medal in the 100 metres when she lines up today in the half-lap event.

Qualifying with 24.02 seconds as the fastest qualifier, Mickayla will face off against the blistering pace of the 100 metres gold medallist Alliah Baker of Hydel, who qualified for the final with a time of 24.27.

In Class Four, Mick-Kayla is up against a stern field in her gold medal aspirations.

Her time of 26.09 seconds sees her qualifying fifth overall for the final, behind the 100 metres champion Teixiera Johnson of Hydel High, who leads the way as the fastest qualifier with 25.23 seconds.