Toco Secondary, Queen's Royal College (QRC) and Bishop Anstey High school are all set to defend their respective titles at the T&T Secondary Schools Track and Field Association's (TTSSTFA) Relay Festival tomorrow.

The action will unfold at the Larry Gomes Stadium in Malabar, Arima from 9.30 am with a parade of the schools before action races off at 10 am.

Yesterday, student-athletes Ricah Henry and Ishmael Olivierre of Toco Secondary spoke confidently of reclaiming their overall crown, which they have won over the past years.

"We have a lot of dedicated athletes like towards their training," said Henry. "Anna Lee Walcott, who is the coach, is very excellent at doing her job. We have students who are just gifted and just talented. We put our best foot forward and get the job done."

Olivierre agreed fully with his teammate saying: "We have the discipline and we are dedicated to getting the work done."

Representatives of other schools also boasted of their readiness for the highly anticipated competition, which made a return to the TTSSTFA calender after its absence last year.

"We are very much excited for the competition," chorused duo Akil Boisson and Dominic Cole of the reigning boys champion QRC when asked how they felt leading up to the Valentine's Day event.

"We do have a tradition of track and field with the likes of Richard Thompson, Deon Lendore, Jehue Gordon and just to maintain the tradition, to keep those high-class athletics within the institution, we want to maintain that standard," said Cole, who represented T&T at the Youth Olympics in Argentina last year.

Boisson said, "We always look forward to competing and winning of course."

Speaking on behalf of the three-time girls' champion Bishop Anstey, Jada Brown, added that her team is also excited for the upcoming competition.

"We are expecting to come out overall girls' school champion again," said Brown.

Her teammate Akilah Lewis, who represented T&T at the World Under-20 Games and Carifta Games, said, "I think my experience representing the country at multiple meets. It really helps me to have good leadership qualities, knowing the kind of competition we are going to have, helping the girls relax, helping the girls to stay focused."

She too believes that her school performs well because of their dedication.

"We have a lot of dedicated team members, from the athletes to the PE (physical education) teachers in the school and we have a lot of crowd support which really motivates us to do our best to represent to the best of our ability."