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Jamaica's Asafa Powell ... aiming for Melbourne Grand Prix meet on Thursday.

Elton Tucker, Assistant Editor - Sport

World 100 metres record holder Asafa Powell and his MVP teammates will be the star attractions at today's University of Technology (UTech) 50th anniversary International Invitational Track and Field Classic at the National Stadium.

Chairman of the organising committee, Anthony Davis, said yesterday that all was in place for today's meet.

"Everybody is here for the meet. The last set of overseas athletes came in at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday evening. The Cubans who have sent a number of athletes who can make their Beijing Olympic team have been here since Wednesday." Davis added that he expected an exciting meet.

"All the top MVP and UTech athletes will be there so we expect good competition," Davis said.

There will be 23 track events and five field - long jump for men and women, men's javelin and the high jump for male and female. The first event is scheduled for 5 p.m. with the last to be contested at 8:50 p.m.

Powell, who returned recently from a pre-season camp in Australia where he clocked 10.04 seconds for 100m running against a 0.2 metres per second wind, will compete in the 200m along with his MVP teammates Michael Frater and Darrell Brown of Trinidad and Tobago. They will be attempting to go under the world leading time of 20.47 set in Sao Paulo on February 22 by Brazilian Bruno de Barros.

MVP outfit

The crack MVP outfit will also parade Sherone Simpson and Brigitte Foster-Hylton. Simpson, the fastest woman in the world in 2006 over 100m and 200m, is working hard to get back to her best after a 2007 where she was dogged by an injury which forced her to miss the Osaka World Athletics Championships.

Simpson declared in a television interview this week that she is slowly returning to top form and her performance today in the 400m will be closely watched. The former Manchester High student has the best 2008 time of 51.74 set in Melbourne, Australia, on February 21.

Simpson, who got gold in the 4x100m at the 2004 Athens Olympics, will face Jamaica's World Championships sprint relay silver medallist and Auburn University standout, Kerron Stewart. Also down for this event are World Junior Championships bronze medallist and Girls' Championships Class One 400m record holder, Sonita Sutherland, of the Sprint Tech Track Club and MVP's pair of Shericka Williams, a World Championships 4x400m silver medallist in Osaka last year and Melaine Walker who reached the semi-finals of the 400m hurdles in Japan.

National 100m hurdles record holder Foster-Hylton, who is also returning from injury, will run in her pet event where she has a personal best time of 12.45.

The Kerron Stewart-led Auburn will be among several American and Caribbean university teams at the meet. Lincoln University and its Jamaican coach Victor Thomas will also be here. Thomas will travel with sprinters Jody-Ann Powell, Kawayne Fisher and Carla Thomas. Entries for the meet have also been received from the University of Puerto Rico, Cuba and Virginia State University.

In addition to MVP and the overseas universities, a number of local clubs and other institutions will be on show at the meet. They include Racers, G.C . Foster College and the University of the West Indies.

The other events down to be contested are 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, women's 100m hurdles, 400m hurdles, 4x100m and 4x400m.