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Edwin Allen's captain, Serena Cole, is very confident that she will be back to winning ways when she competes at the Carifta Trials and the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls' Athletics Championships (Champs), despite a below-par performance at the Central Athletics Championships, which ended at G.C. Foster College on Thursday.

Cole was the highest-profiled athlete going into Central Champs after capturing the silver medal in the 100 metres and the gold in the record-breaking 4x100 metres at the Under-20 World Championships in Cali, Colombia, last summer.

She is favoured to win the Class I girls' 100 metres and successfully defend the long jump title at Champs. She, however, found herself in unfamiliar territory at Central Champs, as she was beaten in both events, and her team had to settle for second in the Class 1 girls' 4x100 metres, beaten by Hydel.

Cole was, however, undaunted by the losses.

"I had some personal issues just at the start of the 100 metres and this affected me during the race, but I am confident that I will be back to winning ways, starting at the Carifta Trials, then Champs," she said about her defeat in the 100 metres.

"I am not used to these types of results (in the long jump), but on the day, I had some problems with my run-ups, and I had to be back and forth trying to fix it, but I am very confident that my coach (Jeremy Delisser) will fix this before the Championships, and I definitely will be back at my best," she said.

In the 100 metres at Central Champs, Cole was in a keen battle with Under-20 World Championships' 200 metres bronze medallist Alana Reid, but eased up 10 metres from the finish line after being passed. Reid clocked 11.39 seconds to win as Cole had to settle for second in 11.93, with the race contested in a negative win of 2.7 metres per second.

She was a disappointing fifth in the long jump with a moderate 5.42 metres, with Holmwood Technical's Celine Riddle winning in 5.76. Meanwhile, in the Class I girls' 4x100 relays, Cole's Edwin Allen quartet finished second in 45.72 seconds, with Hydel doing 44.99. It was the first loss for Cole in the relays, as she has always been on winning teams since Class IV.