Alpha head coach pleased with momentum

It has been a dream season so far in track and field for the Convent of Mercy Academy (Alpha) and head coach Kirk King is hoping his team will continue that momentum going into the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships (Champs).

After finishing 12th last year with 36.50 points, and third best among Corporate Area teams behind Immaculate Conception and Wolmer’s Trust High School for Girls, King expects a big improvement from his team at Champs.

At the Corporate Area Championships they showed their worth and were just squeezed out of second place by Excelsior, finishing a close third.

King is feeling good about his charges leading up to Champs.

“The girls are excited, and I am feeling confident with how they are performing, and I am positive that they will be competitive at Champs,” said King.

“Once they go out there and perform to the best of their abilities they will get the required results,” he continued.

The team has looked very good in Class 3, and this was shown at the Gibson McCook Relays, where their 4x100m relay team put pressure on a very strong Edwin Allen team, just losing out in a close finish.

When asked about the strength of his team, his reply was: “We have a very good set of girls in Class 3, and we are very strong in the sprints and hurdles. These are areas we normally do well in, but with big improvement in other areas like middle distance, they have been looking good, and we now have a more rounded team,” said King, who has a passion for the hurdles.

“I love to coach the hurdles, but as a team, we aim to be better in other areas, and I have done well in other areas as I used to coach the high jumpers at St Jago in the past,” he stated.

Doing coaching duties with Kingston College with their hurdlers, King was asked how this affected time spent with his girls.

“This is more positive than negative as the girls see what the Kingston College hurdlers are doing, and they gain a lot of confidence from this,” he said.

King is hoping for a big jump for his team at Champs, and despite his team’s big improvement at the Corporate Area Championships, he knows it will be a different affair now.

“I know that this Championships is much different from the Corporate Area Championships, and although we have a smaller squad compared to the likes of Immaculate Conception and Excelsior, we will be pushing to be the top Corporate Area team as I think we have the quality. We are going to give our best, and at the end of the day, we will see where that takes us.”

King thanked his principal for the continued support of the team and is calling on others to continue supporting the programme.

“A big thank you to our principal who has given us the support, and to the parents, who are always coming out to cheer for their kids. I am appealing to all past students to come out and support the team as we are building, and their support is very critical for the programme going forward.”