AP Invitational set for July 6

By Timothy Jaikarran

In a simple ceremony held at the National Racquet Centre on Woolford Avenue in Georgetown, it was announced that the Aliann Pompey (AP) Invitational is to be staged on July 6th at the National Track and Field Centre at Leonora, West Coast Demerara, and some of Guyana’s top athletes will be competing in the meet.

In Pompey’s opening statement, she said, “This is the 4th edition of the meet. We have a few athletes that are doing a tremendous job on the world stage, such as Emmanuel Archibald who recently broke the national record for the long jump, among others. So what we have done is that we have switched from the triple jump to the long jump.
“As you know, Troy Doris, our Commonwealth Gold Medallist, has done a tremendous job over the course of the year. He has been battling some injuries, thus he won’t be competing in the triple jump this year. Therefore, we saw the opportunity to give our long jumpers an opportunity to excel. At the start of the meet, we will have a section where high school athletes will be given the opportunity to share the same platform with the international athletes.
“We will announce at a later date who will be headlining the meet. Yesterday, Aliyah Abrams ran for South Carolina at the NCAA Finals. (She) ran a 51.51; so I think I’ll start saying goodbye to my national record. We also had Arinze Chance, also of South Carolina, who opened the 4×400 relay in 45 seconds; so the men’s and women’s 400, including the long jump, will be staple events at the meet this year.”
Pompey noted that one of the main areas she would be focusing on for this year’s meet is to ensure that the Guyanese athletes competing are able to earn something, as they rarely have the opportunity to compete overseas.
Further, Pompey declared that, should any female athlete of Guyanese origin be able to break any national record, the AP Invitational will pay that athlete a total of US$1000. This opportunity was made possible by Sentinel Security Inc.
Some of the entities on board sponsoring this meet are Sentinel Security Inc, the Guyana Olympic Association, Banks DIH, the Athletics Association of Guyana, IAAF, ConSudAtle, Ministry of Education, Sleep-In Hotel and Casino, Star Party Rentals, National Sports Commission, Quality Plus Fast Foods, and the Ministry of Communities (Green Generation Guyana).
The AP Invitational will commence with the traditional opening ceremony at 15:00 hrs on July 6th