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Roach eyes CAC after heptathlon switch
Roach eyes CAC after heptathlon switch
BY PAUL A REID Observer writer reidp@jamaicaobserver.com
Friday, July 09, 2010
WHEN the Jamaica Amateur Athletics Association (JAAA) names the squad for the Central American and Caribbean Senior Track and Field Championships later this month, former Alpha Academy and University of Iowa athlete Peaches Roach expects at least one, if not two, heptathletes to be included.
The 25-year-old Roach who last represented Jamaica in 2007 in the high jump at the Pan American Games says she hopes both she and former Wolmer's Girls' and fellow University of Iowa representative Tamilee Kerr will get the chance to represent the country in the multi-discipline event.
"I think it is about time Jamaica got on the map for the heptathlon and I think they should send both of us and let us prove ourselves," Roach told the Observer on Sunday's final day of the Supreme Ventures JAAA National Senior Championships at the National Stadium.
"We have some of the best individual events (in the world) and I feel like someone should accept the challenge to do the multi-events and give (national decathlon record holder) Maurice (Smith) some company."
Kerr, a girls Champs heptathlon winner, is actually the higher ranked of the two with a personal best 5,633 points to Roach's 5,586 -- ranked fifth and sixth, respectively, on the all time Jamaica list behind Diane Guthrie's 6,527 points set in June 1995.
Roach, who competed for Alpha in the high jump as well as in relays, said she switched to the heptathlon in 2008 "to get a new challenge".
Minutes after taking part in the high jump (1.80m) and 100m hurdles (14.23 seconds) within minutes of each other on Sunday, Roach said she was "looking for a new challenge. The high jump has kinda tapered off even though I feel like I was coming back this year".
Roach, who described herself as "an energetic person", added that "most times after I finish the high jump competition I feel like I am just starting".
As she is relatively new to the event, she said she was "expecting big improvements in the next competition because I have been working my events".
The hurdles result on Sunday was a disappointment. "This was not the best representation of me; it's the worst I have done all year," she said as she literally ran from high jump to the starting blocks after a quick change of shoes.
She is however hopeful for better results soon.
"I feel like it will come together at CAC in that good competition and I feel like I could score up to 6,000 points on a good day," she said.
Roach, who is still based in Iowa and trains under coach Clive Roberts, described the 2010 season as "an interesting one" where she has had her training interrupted on more than one occasion.
BY PAUL A REID Observer writer reidp@jamaicaobserver.com
Friday, July 09, 2010
WHEN the Jamaica Amateur Athletics Association (JAAA) names the squad for the Central American and Caribbean Senior Track and Field Championships later this month, former Alpha Academy and University of Iowa athlete Peaches Roach expects at least one, if not two, heptathletes to be included.
The 25-year-old Roach who last represented Jamaica in 2007 in the high jump at the Pan American Games says she hopes both she and former Wolmer's Girls' and fellow University of Iowa representative Tamilee Kerr will get the chance to represent the country in the multi-discipline event.
"I think it is about time Jamaica got on the map for the heptathlon and I think they should send both of us and let us prove ourselves," Roach told the Observer on Sunday's final day of the Supreme Ventures JAAA National Senior Championships at the National Stadium.
"We have some of the best individual events (in the world) and I feel like someone should accept the challenge to do the multi-events and give (national decathlon record holder) Maurice (Smith) some company."
Kerr, a girls Champs heptathlon winner, is actually the higher ranked of the two with a personal best 5,633 points to Roach's 5,586 -- ranked fifth and sixth, respectively, on the all time Jamaica list behind Diane Guthrie's 6,527 points set in June 1995.
Roach, who competed for Alpha in the high jump as well as in relays, said she switched to the heptathlon in 2008 "to get a new challenge".
Minutes after taking part in the high jump (1.80m) and 100m hurdles (14.23 seconds) within minutes of each other on Sunday, Roach said she was "looking for a new challenge. The high jump has kinda tapered off even though I feel like I was coming back this year".
Roach, who described herself as "an energetic person", added that "most times after I finish the high jump competition I feel like I am just starting".
As she is relatively new to the event, she said she was "expecting big improvements in the next competition because I have been working my events".
The hurdles result on Sunday was a disappointment. "This was not the best representation of me; it's the worst I have done all year," she said as she literally ran from high jump to the starting blocks after a quick change of shoes.
She is however hopeful for better results soon.
"I feel like it will come together at CAC in that good competition and I feel like I could score up to 6,000 points on a good day," she said.
Roach, who is still based in Iowa and trains under coach Clive Roberts, described the 2010 season as "an interesting one" where she has had her training interrupted on more than one occasion.