... Record-hunting Dacres readies for Champs

Andre Lowe, Senior Staff Reporter

World youth and junior champion Fedrick Dacres is looking to end his ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls' Championships career on a high, with ambitions of ensuring that his last trip inside the Champs discus circle is a memorable one.

Dacres, the double champion in the Class One discus and shot put events at last year's meet, however, knows more than most that a win at next week's championships will not only satisfy his own personal goals, but will go a long way in ensuring that his Calabar High School team successfully defend their boys' title against an inevitably fierce Kingston College attack.

"It's my last year and yes, I want to be remembered, so I will try to go out with a bang, so I am just putting in the work in training," Dacres told The Gleaner yesterday.

"Sir (coach Julian Robinson) always tells us that basically it is said that we are the backbone of the team, so we have to stand strong and all that and get our points," Dacres noted. "So we are just basically trying to ensure we get those points, do the work in training, and ensure that we come on the day and execute."

Dacres, who topped the world at the 2011 IAAF World Junior Championships in Lille, France, and the IAAF World Junior Championships in Barcelona last year with discus gold medals, also admitted that he is hoping to launch an assault on his former schoolmate Travis Smikle's 66.88m Champs record.

He will have his work cut out for him though with his 62.92m season and personal best, which was recorded at the Ben Francis Invitational in the middle of last month, falling some way behind Smikle's final year 'fling', posted in 2011.

Going for the Record

"Preparation has been ok, we were in a little position but everything has been good so far," Dacres said. "I can challenge the record, but I know that with good technique, comes good distances and so right now I am just focusing on my technique and the distance will come."

"We are trying to perfect the technique and we basically did some strength work," Dacres added.

Dacres, who recently celebrated his 19th birthday, will once again start as overwhelming favourite in the Class One discus competition, an event that has been a sure bet for the Calabar faithful over the past few years.