Paul A. Reid, Staff Reporter
Jodi-Ann Muir (left) takes the baton from Paula Renalls during a training session at Bower Field on the University of Pennsylvania yesterday. The girls were training under the watchful eyes of coach Michael Kerr as they prepare for tomorrow's start of the 111th Penn Relays in Philadelphia. - PHOTO BY PAUL REID
PHILADELPHIA:
JAMAICAN HIGH school teams will have another new rule to contend with when the 111th Penn Relays get under way here tomorrow morning.
Effective this year, no high school will be allowed to compete in both the 4x800m and the Distance Medley Relays (DMR).
Meet Director Dave Johnson told The Gleaner yesterday that the change was made because "too many schools were cheating the system."
Johnson said the results had shown that the vast majority of the schools that took part in both events traditionally did very well in one but not in both.
He said that while the schools managed to qualify for the Championship finals in both, they take up the pace that other "more deserving schools might have taken" as normally it is the same athletes that run both events.
When asked if there were not allowances for schools running different runners in both relays, he conceded that this might be so for a few of the teams but it was the majority that would run the same set of athletes.
Jamaican coaches have long complained that rule changes by the organisers of the world largest relay carnival were aimed at restricting their dominance and levelling the playing field for the American schools, particularly the east coast-based high schools.
Prior to this, the most recent serious rules change was restricting athletes to four years competing for high schools. This rule caught up with Edwin Allen last year as they were disqualified from the DMR after their ace middle-distance runner, Paula Thompson who was competing here for the fifth year, was included on that team.
Edwin Allen was initially banned from this year's event but an appeal was upheld and they were allowed to take part, but not in the DMR event
Meanwhile, Wolmer's Girls were the first Jamaican team to arrive for the meet and worked out at the facilities yesterday after arriving the previous night.
Coach Michael Kerr led the six-member team that will take part in the 4x100m and 4x400m relays through its paces on the nearby Bower Field after they were asked to stop training on Franklin Field.
The girls were halfway around the track on their first lap when a female official asked them to leave. When Kerr asked the reason, he was told politely but firmly that the track was closed due to the competition in the College women's Heptathlon and would not be opened until later in the day at about 5:00 p.m. Kerr told The Gleaner he was also told they could use the track at about 8:30 this morning but had to be off by 10:00 a.m. when the competition would resume.
Twenty nine Jamaican high schools are in the field of 924 schools taking part along with two college teams, G.C. Foster and UTech, while dozens of Jamaicans will compete over the three days for various American colleges.
