VETERAN track and field administrator Howard Aris died last night during a Peoples National Party (PNP) mass rally in Port Antonio, sending shockwaves throughout the Opposition party and the country.

PNP deputy general secretary Julian Robinson told the Observer that Aris was found unconscious in PNP president Portia Simpson Millers motor vehicle and was rushed to hospital.

Medical doctor Lynvale *la*hmfield, the PNPs parliamentary candidate for East Portland, confirmed Aris passing.

Members of the party told the Observer that Aris, an ardent PNP supporter and longtime friend of Simpson Miller, went to the vehicle to rest after spending some time on the stage.

One person who was in the vehicle was overheard saying that Aris seemed to have died before he was rushed to the Port Antonio Hospital shortly before 10:00 pm.

Simpson Miller, who received the news just as she was wrapping up her address to supporters, appeared too distraught to speak to the media.

Aris, was president of the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association (JAAA) until the time of his death. He was fondly called Fudge and had a distinguished career in track and field administration and shared a unique position with Jamaican track and field legend Herb McKenley.

They were both on their respective high school athletics teams (Kingston College and Calabar), were head coaches of winning Boys Championship teams, and served as JAAA president in a year which the school they once coached won the Boys Champs title.

In fact, Aris was head coach at one point, during Kingston Colleges 14-year winning streak from 1962 to 1975. That streak was broken by Calabar, under the directorship of McKenley, in 1976.

Aris, however, stood alone as having been an athlete on a winning Champs team, giving him an outlook as an athlete, a coach, and a track and field administrator.

Source: Jamaica Observer