The 2023/2024 local athletic season will kick off with the National Association of Athletic Administrations of Trinidad and Tobago (NAAATT) annual Cross Country Championships at the Queen's Park Savannah in Port-of-Spain on Sunday.
This year's edition will see competitors run over a new route.
The races will get underway at the usual start/finish line opposite Queen's Royal College (QRC) from 2 pm. However, the runners will turn south after the Hallows instead of running east past the President's House.
The day will begin with a 2K run for the Under-15 girls and boys to be followed by the girls and boys' U-17 and U-20 4K, women's 6K and men's 8K.
Recently crowned UWI Half Marathon men's champion Nicholas Romany will be out to dethrone defending champion Donnell Francis in the men's 8K while female runner-up and former national cross country winner Samantha Shukla will be the one to watch in the women's event.
Reigning Carifta Boys U-20 gold medallist Tafari Waldron is among the headline acts in the boys' U-20 4K. The QRC/Cougars middle distance race will line up against bronze medallist at the 2023 North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) U-18 bronze medallist Omare Thompson (One-A-Week).
Caleigh Forde (One-A-Week), 2022 Carifta Games girls' U-17 1,500m silver medallist, will be the main contender in the girls' U-20 4K while Carifta representative Isaiah Adler (Cougars) will seek to dominate the boys' U-17 4K.
Two-time Carifta competitor Anikay Bailey (One-A-Week) will start as the favourite in the girls' U-17 4K.
Triple Secondary Schools gold medallist Oshea Cummings (Zenith) is the main name to watch in the girls' U-15 2K with club-mate Malique Young and the One-A-Week trio of Keiel Samuel and the Lewis twin, Khordae and Khordell, will all be vying for the boys' U-15 2K crown.
According to a statement by NAAATT, the registration for each race closes 30 minutes before the start of each discipline. The cost of registration is $20 for the U-15 competitors and $40 for all the other age groups.
