Jamaica College's Waquar DaCosta salutes his fans as he completes victory in the 800m in 1:57.44. His teammate Earl Grant (left) was second in 1:58.94 earlier this year at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys' Championships. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer

Many-time boys' champions Jamaica College (JC) is doing things slightly different this season ahead of Boys and Girls' Champs next year, this according to their head coach and Olympian John Mair.

It has been a decade since the Old Hope Road-based school last won the championships - with their hat-trick of wins spanning 1998-2000 - however, the perennial contenders have managed over the years to maintain their top-five status.

However, in an attempt to turn things around, Mair and his staff are doing things a little differently this season.

"There are some changes that we have made where we are putting in a little more sprint work into the early season," Mair reported.

"Things and times have changed, gone are the days when you have a lot of long runs for the sprinters ... what we are doing now is to get the fast twitch muscles working early, getting used to turning over," he explained.

"Just like any other year, we are where we want to be right now," Mair reported while adding that the turnout at training is not consistence, noting some of the medal contenders are the ones skipping practice.

working hard

He was quick to point out that his point man and middle-distance 'hero' Waquar DaCosta, a national junior representative, "is out there working hard"

"... But there are others who we expect to be out there working ... we haven't seen them, there are on and off at training, so I guess maybe by Christmas camp going into January, they will show up," he continued.

So, while Mair, who represented Jamaica at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, added that the bulk of the squad is consistence, the others, he said, are the ones "we expect to do well ... some of the medallists of last year".

He said the reason given is that a high percentage of the athletes are down to take the CXC examinations, which mean SBA and extra assignments, which are keeping them busy.

However, despite the challenges, Mair said JC, which have won Champs 21 times since in inception in 1910, have been working hard since training started in the summer.

"We started in the summer, but only a few of the athletes were able to attend because of the economics ... bus fare and all of that," he said.

He described the bunch as a "very good squad" while adding, "We are working hard on the field events, the jumps as well as the hurdles."

As any other year, Mair said they are looking ahead of Champs with optimism.

"We have always done well up to Saturday afternoon, but depth has always been our problem. We have a good turnout and hopefully we should be able to get some good performances and talented one in the lot," he said.

The team will be led by national representatives Waquar DaCosta, Earl Grant and Fabian Smith, while the coach said some of the youngsters, first-year athletes, would be given the chance to compete at the Excelsior meet in December.