By Gary Smith
Caribbean Net News Sports Correspondent
gary@caribbeannetnews.com

OKLAHOMA, USA: Jamaican 100-metres World record holder Asafa Powell, is set to compete at two relay meetings in the United States in April.

Powell, who opened his season with two impressive sub-48 seconds 400m performances on home soil earlier this year, will compete as part of the Maximizing Velocity and Power (MVP) track and field club team at the 49th Mount SAC Relays in San Antonio, on April 15, then at the 113th Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania two weeks later.

The 24-year-old record holder at 9.77, will be joined by fellow Jamaicans Michael Frater, the 2005 World Championships 100m silver medallist from Helsinki, and Ainsley Waugh.

Trinidad & Tobago’s world junior record holder Darrel Brown, who surprisingly win a silver medal in the 100m at the 2003 world championships, completes the team, which is currently training in Kingston, Jamaica.

In 2005 Powell was a member of the MVP side that finished behind Maurice Greene’s HSInternational side and meet director Scott Davis is delighted to have him back at the relay carnival.

"For us to get an athlete like Asafa Powell in our meet is huge," Davis said. "We're a junior college. We have no money. We have to rely on the goodwill of the agents.”

Powell will be making his third appearance at the Penn Relays, after winning the 100m in 10.10 last year and running and being part of the Jamaican 4x100 team that finished second to a US team in 2004.

Earlier this year at the Gibson Relays at the National Stadium in Kingston, the MVP team failed to finish after Brown failed to compete the final exchange with Waugh on the anchor leg.

Meanwhile, Caribbean Net News also understands that the MVP camp will also field a women’s team in the relays. The team will be led by Commonwealth Games 200m gold medallist Sherone Simpson, who dominated the short sprints during the 2006 outdoor campaign.