Edwin Allen – Big Winner of MILO Western Relays Money, Plea for Repairs to MoBay Track

MILO Western Relays (MWR) co-founder and meet organizer as well as representatives of Edwin Allen High School journeyed to GC Foster College – (the venue for this year’s MWR) for the presentation of a $210,000 cheque representing prize money earned during competition.

Ray Harvey presented the cheque to coach Abna Stoner, athletes Jounee Armstrong and Dylan Logan of Edwin Allen on Monday on GC track where the athletes won five of the six relays and came third in one of the ‘big money’ relays.

The girls won the Class I 4x100m, 4x400m and the 4x800m relays while the boys won the Class I 4x100m, 4x400m and placed third in the 4x800m. Edwin Allen bagged the highest amount of cash of the ten schools that benefited financially. The other winners were KC – $50,000, Holmwood – $50,000, Excelsior – $40,000, St. Jago – $20,000, Vere – $20,000, Mt. Alvernia – $15,000, Bellfield – $5,000 and Green Island – $5,000. The total prize money was $425,000.

“I am happy to come all the way from the West to GC Foster College to present Edwin Allen a decent cheque. Its $210,000. They have supported Western Relays from (the) beginning and one of the people we can always count on at Western Relays to put on a show and to make our product into something special,” said Harvey

The Western teams benefited in two ways according to Harvey, “we have a special programme to support the teams from the West. We recognize that they are not able to be at home in Montego Bay. They have to travel. It is expensive to travel so we are offering six teams a subsidy towards their travel here coming to GC Foster College. They are getting two touches. One, this prize money and two the transportation money so the teams from the West, several of them will get two cheques.

He also said that a lot of people are looking forward to going back home. “I am one of hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of people who want Western Relays to go back home. I have been waiting patiently for five years for the track to be repaired, it just hasn’t happened and we just have to keep our fingers crossed that it will happen sometime soon.”

Harvey said that having a working track is intergral to the development of track and field in the West. The track not only hosts track meets as a number of events are normally held ahead of the staging of MWR. They include seminars, presentations to coaches and athletes regarding drugs in sports, physical fitness, nutrition, etc; a clinic for ten and eleven year olds learning to change batons at that early age so that by the time they get to high school they still have something to learn but they have the rudiments of baton changes, as well as training sessions for meet officials. Those activities have stopped for the past five years, since the MoBay Sports Complex is not available.

After accepting the cheque, coach Stoner of Edwin Allen said “we are so grateful for (this) presentation this morning because I was pleasantly surprised when I opened it and looked at the figure. This is really a shot in the arm and it will go a long way in contributing to the programme. This week we will be departing for Penn Relays and with all the logistics – airfare, pocket money for students, it is a pretty penny and this money that we got today it really can help to develop the programme”. The team left for the Penn Relays on Tuesday.

Regarding the Montego Bay track, he said “its kinda tragedy what is going on in Western Jamaica re the track and everything that is happening and what has been in the news recently. And I would like to take this opportunity to call on the government to restore that track, get it back up because it is a pride for the Western teams and they have always been consistent and I think not having access to that facility is kinds robbing Western Jamaica of their true and full potential.”

“We are looking forward to going back to Montego Bay because we are also robbing the spectators or the ardent track and field supporters that opportunity to see their home grown talent performing with the best in the country.”