LIVINGSTON SCOTT, STAR Writer

Kingston College head coach, Neil Harrison, said injuries to key athletes at the 2015 Boys' Championships cost them the title, but he was upset by media suggestions that he forced an injured Jhevaughn Matherson to run in an attempt to 'win at all costs'.

Harrison told STAR Sports that injuries are unavoidable but he believes had Matherson, Nathaniel Bann, and Akeem Bloomfield been fully fit, things would have turned out differently..

Matherson won his 100-metres heat on Thursday and faced rival Tyreke Wilson in the 200m semi-final later that evening.

However, the KC star pulled up as he was about to turn into the straight, with Wilson well ahead and in control of the race.

Harrison said that physically, Matherson was okay, he just took the decision to pull him after that race.

"Physically, he wasn't hurt, but emotionally he was. He told me he went for a big one, but didn't find it and he just threw in the towel, so it wasn't anything physical, it was more emotional than anything else," he said.

"Matherson has high aspiration," he continued.

"He is a person who doesn't like to lose and he knew he wasn't 100 per cent, but even under those circumstances he believed he still had the ability to win, but when he dug deep and found that it wasn't there, so he just gave in.

"He's a fine talent and under no circumstances would Kingston College or myself as the head coach do anything to harm him. We were just hoping that his best would be good enough but that was not the case,"he said.

Harrison was disturbed by comments made on national television, which gave the impression that the sprinter was not well and that KC was trying to win Champs at any cost.

"What I am disappointed with is that the media, looking from a distance, made comments like 'his body language is saying see coach I cannot run.' That wasn't the situation, but I told him that since he gave up it's better if I pull him.

"I don't have a problem when spectators make certain comments because spectators can be arrogant, but I expected the media to be a bit more professional."