Bailey

ASAFA POWELL, the world's fastest man, along with Olympic Games sprint relay gold medallists Sherone Simpson and Aleen Bailey are expected to continue their early-season preparations at Saturday's University of West Indies Invitational meet at the National Stadium East complex.

Though Powell's name was not among those included on the organiser's press release, checks with his Maximum Velocity Performance (MVP) Track Club revealed he has been entered. The meet will also have a regional flavour as teams from the UWI Cave Hill campus in Barbados, Trupial Track Club out of Curaçao and a team from Cayman Islands are expected in for the meet.

Powell and Simpson will again run the 400m, an event they opened up with at the Queen's/Grace Jackson Meet on January 27.

World Championships 100m silver medallist Michael Frater, Trinidad and Tobago's 2003 World Championships silver medallist Darrell Brown, Brigitte Foster-Hylton who won bronze in Helsinki 2005 and Geraldine Pillay of South Africa, all teammates of Powell and Simpson at the Stephen Francis-coached MVP club, will also take part in the meet.

Shericka Williams, Kaliese Spencer and Melaine Walker, along with Ainsley Waugh, Winston Smith, Nester Carter, Germaine Mason and Gregory Little, are also expected to run.

Time finals

The events down to be contest are the 3,000m, 5,000m, 100m, 400m, 800m, 1,500m 4x100m, 4x400m, long, triple and high jumps. All events are time finals.

Meanwhile, Grace Jackson, chairperson of the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association's (JAAA) competition's committee, has taken it upon herself the task of staging tomorrow's Hurdles Fest.

Facing the possibility of cancellation when the previous organisers were forced to put out because of lack of sponsorship, Jackson said it was important to stage the event.

"When I heard of the challenges, I offered to take it over," said Jackson, the first vice-president of the JAAA.

Jackson, an Olympic Games 200m silver medallist, made mention of two of the most important reasons why she decided to take it on, with the help of the JAAA.

"I want to make sure the hurdlers get another opportunity; it's in the national interest. I think it is important," Jackson said.

Also she added: "We have it on the calendar and they (athletes) would have planned for it, so it's best to have it."

Feedback: anthony.foster@gleanerjm.com