Jamaica's stars on track

• JAAA/Supreme Ventures National Championships starts today at National Stadium

André Lowe, Senior Staff Reporter

According to their respective handlers, there will be no Usain Bolt or Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce at the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association/Supreme Ventures Limited National Senior Championships which starts today inside the National Stadium. However, there is certainly no shortage of promised excitement, as athletes begin their hunt for spots on Jamaica's team to the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Daegu, South Korea.

Having already achieved qualification to the Daegu meet as a result of their victories two years ago in Berlin in their respective events, it seems certain that the pair will sit out the four-day meet.

Other Berlin winners - Brigitte Foster-Hylton and Melaine Walker - are, however, down to compete at the highly anticipated meet which gets under way today with heat action in the men's and women's 400m hurdles, 400m and 100m, as well as the men's javelin final.

glorious uncertainty

The first round of the men's 100m - minus the athletes who have achieved a time of 10.30 or less - will run off at 10 a.m. with the quarter-finals, which will feature the big guns, facing the starter a little later, at 7:15 p.m.

However, it's tomorrow's men's 100m final, scheduled for 9:25 p.m., that has most people excited. Bolt or not, the event promises tremendous fireworks and glorious uncertainty, with six of the competitors already registering sub-10 times this season.

Asafa Powell, 9.93, despite being the third-fastest in the field this year, will start as slight favourite, depending on who you talk to, with Steve Mullings - the second-fastest man in the world this year with a 9.80 seconds timing - seen as the biggest threat. The race-rusty Nesta Carter, 9.92, the ever-reliable Michael Frater, 9.94 seconds, and the maturing Yohan Blake, 9.95 seconds, all line up in one of the most unpredictable events on the schedule.

In the 200m final, scheduled for Sunday night, Mullings, 20.15, and Ashmeade, 19.95 - the second-fastest man this year over the distance behind Bolt - are expected to go head-to-head with Blake, Carter and Marvin Anderson battling for the other positions.

National record holder Jermaine Gonzales, a best of 45.07 in 2011, is yet to reclaim his 2010 form but he is still the clear favourite in the men's 400m, with Leford Green, 45.74, expected to finish closest.

The women's equivalent is also expected to be a bit more exciting, with the anticipation of a fierce battle between Novlene Williams-Mills and the resurgent Rosemarie Whyte, and the defending World Championships silver medallist Shericka Williams all in the frame.

barely quicker

Williams-Mills started the year brightly and is still at this point the fastest Jamaican with a 50.71 clocking, barely quicker than Whyte, the 2008 Beijing finalist who comes into the championship with a 50.79 season best of her own. Williams-Mills is, however, recovering from a slight injury concern, while Whyte has come on strongly in recent weeks.

The championships also promises a lot of competitiveness in the women's short sprints, with Veronica Campbell-Brown, Kerron Stewart and Sherone Simpson favoured in the 100m, which is also scheduled for tomorrow, with Schillonie Calvert and Jura Levy looking to cause an upset, while Campbell-Brown, 22.95, will be pressed by the still-recovering Stewart, 22.75, and Levy, 22.76, in Sunday's 200m final. Veteran Aleen Bailey and Anneisha McLaughlin will also add to the drama.

Dwight Thomas, fresh from his recent 13.15 national record run, is expected to win the men's 110m hurdles ahead of recent NCAA silver medallist Andrew Riley, 13.32, and Richard Phillips, 13.44.

The 2010 IAAF Diamond League winner, Kaliese Spencer, should get the better of the rest of the field in the women's 400m hurdles, ahead of Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Nickiesha Wilson and former outstanding Edwin Allen athlete Ristananna Tracey.

Today's schedule

9:30 a.m: 400m hurdles women heats

9:45 a.m: 400m hurdles men heats

10:00 a.m: 100m men heats

6:05 p.m: 400m women heats

6:20 p.m: 400m men heats

6:50 p.m: 100m women heats

7:15 p.m: 100m men heats

5:30 p.m: Javelin men final