Olympic sprinter Xavier James collected his tenth straight title at the National Track and Field Championships over the weekend, eclipsing the juniors who have dominated the event.

The two-day competition, staged at the National Sports Centre, should probably be renamed the National Junior Track and Field Championships, given that most Open competitions featured just a single competitor or none at all.

James, whose best is 10.19 wind-assisted and 10.38 without, strode home in 11.07 seconds to fight off the challenge of Under 20 competitor Vernell Lambe (11.43) and Under 17 sprinter Harold Tre Houston (11.44).

The perennial champion, due to compete in both the CAC Games and the CAC Track and Field Championships this summer, was the sole entrant in the Open category, although all the older age groups run together to attempt to fill more of the lanes.

The same was true in the 800 metres the night before where Michael Donawa clocked one minute 59.30 seconds to win the Open against no competition, although Under 17 star Aaron Evans finished less than a second behind him. The 5,000 metres event was scrapped altogether due to lack of entrants.

?This is a wonderful event for the youngsters,? said Sports Minister Dale Butler, who attended both days of competition at the NSC where noisy parents created something of an atmosphere around the finish line despite a relatively low turn-out in the stands.

?There are plenty of positives about the event, but there are also some negatives and areas of concern, and some of that is related to poor turn-out in the events.

?I would like to meet with the officials after the event and perhaps we can talk about future years.?

Although Butler was guarded about openly criticising organisers, he did joke that he would enter the 5,000m next year ? something that would have netted him a national crown simply for showing up had he done so this year.

Although the senior ranks were all but empty, the juniors put in some strong performances to keep the crowds happy.

Commonwealth Games star Latroya Darrell competed in both the triple jump and high jump while Carifta regulars Kijuan Wilkinson and Deon Brangman were also on show.

There were some brave performances from many of the younger competitors, with athletes as young as eight putting their heart into their track events to the genuine applause of the supportive crowd.

Full results will be published later this week.