The 48^th staging of the Jamaica Independent School Association (JISA) Prep Schools Track and Field Championship runs off on Thursday inside the National Stadium with 40 schools looking to dethrone St Peter and Paul Prep.

JISA President Tamara McKenzie said that more schools and students are involved, with over 2,000 competitors from six parishes competing for the best prep school in Jamaica.

“This year is a really special one because we would have been able to mobilise more rural schools to participate, which is hard in itself for a school in the corporate area to participate,” McKenzie noted.

“We start this Thursday. Events are running from eight in the morning until six in the evening every day, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, at the National Stadium. And I really want to make an appeal to parents and to corporate Jamaica to come out and support our children. It’s not about public or private. It’s our children that we’re supporting,” McKenzie pleaded.

She continued: “I know sometimes we have persons who say, oh, it’s prep schools…with everything that is happening around us, we need help. There is no private business right now that is having smooth sailing. Everybody is crying”.

St Peter and Paul, which won their first title last year, are fancied to retain their crown but will have the likes of Hydel and Vaz breathing down their necks.

Action starts at 9:00 am with the preliminaries of the boys’ class one 400m followed by the girls’ class two long jump and day one will be completed with the running of the 800m sprint medleys at 7:10 pm.