All Eyes on Quincy Wilson and Jamaica’s Rising Stars at East Coast International Showcase

May 4, 2024

Quincy Wilson, the boys’ and girls’ 100m, will draw the most attention at Saturday’s (4 May) East Coast International Showcase. The Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex track in Landover, Maryland, will for the second year straight witness rising star sprinter Quincy Wilson, who is having the season of his life.

The 16-year-old Wilson, according to World and Olympic Games 100m gold medalist Justin Gatlin, is good enough to be a member of the USA’s Paris Olympic Games 4x400m team.  The Bullis School athlete ran a stunning 44.37 leg at Penn Relays last week, a performance which gave him the relay athlete of the meet.   Wilson recently broke an indoor national record at 400 meters at New Balance Nationals Indoor, clocking the first sub-46 performance for the distance since 2004, and earned a national title in 45.76 seconds. He followed weeks later with the No. 8 time in high school history outdoors for the 400-meter distance, punching down on an effort of 45.19 seconds at the Florida Relays.

Jayden Horton-Mims, who ran 46.85 to win his first national championship and post the second-fastest time back in March, is who many are hoping will provide some competition for Wilson. ALSO READ: “I’m excited and can’t wait for the rest of the season.”Jaydon Hibbert Says after Win in Bermuda

High-Caliber Competition Set to Thrill at East Coast International Showcase

Meanwhile, the girls’ 100m will be hot with Sabrina Dockery of Lacovia High, who was second at Champs behind Theianna-Lee Terrelonge, but shocked many with a table-turning victory at Carifta Games, running a personal best 11.26, will line up in heat one.  Elise Cooper, the Nike Indoor 200m champion & USA’s U20 Pan Am 200m Silver medalist, will be very hot. She will run in heat one with Dockery.

  However, the highly anticipated heat 2 will see Champs Class 1 sprint double champion Aliah Baker of Hydel against Class 2 200/400m double winner Muschett High’s Shanoya Douglas, stepping down to set up an interesting clash. Shemonique Hazle, also of Hydel, should add to the heat.

Aliah Baker, who is listed for the girls’ sprints, is glad to be in Maryland for such a high-caliber event. “This is a great opportunity to be competing with international athletes from all over because the only time most Jamaicans will get this opportunity like this is when they make the national team. So, this meet is a great opportunity for us to travel outside of Jamaica and get great competition.”

Shanoya Douglas of Muschett High School, one of Jamaica’s rising stars, is eager to use the East Coast International Showcase Meet to help her push for World U20 later this year. “It’s a great experience going against some of the fastest in America and pushing my body to the limit to see how fast I can run and how my training is preparing me for World U20. It’s an honor to be here, considered one of the best athletes to come here to showcase my talent.”

The boys’ 100m will have Excelsior High’s Champs winner Damor Miller, who sees this opportunity as “a nice experience competing with the rest of the teams.”  Miller will be challenged by Muschett High’s Johan-Ramaldo Smythe, his junior but is having the season of his life. American Caine Stanley is expected to add to the showdown.   Jake Odey-Jordan, the 2024 New Balance Indoor 200M National Champion and the Sophomore Indoor National Record Holder, will also be in the strong boys’ 100m line-up   .

The top sprinters from the heat will return for a final later in the day.   

Several other Jamaican athletes are down to compete at the meet, including Kemarrio Bygrave of Jamaica College (JC), who will be running the 800m and 4x400m, is already cherishing the moment: “Getting these opportunities to compete internationally and to show our talent is just a great feeling, to come and not just represent yourself but your school and country.”

Chairo Ogbebor, the 2024 New Balance Indoor Long Jump National Champion and meet record holder 7.49M, is also down to compete. 

Meanwhile, organizer Sanjay Ayre, who attended high school in Jamaica and the USA before going on to represent Jamaica at three Olympic Games, said putting on a meet with Jamaica against USA high school stars in individual events is always something he dreamt about doing.

“I thought to myself, would it be a cool idea to merge the two countries I love dearly to go into a head-to-head competition for high schoolers. I had many dreams as a Howard County resident to one day have a big track and field meeting here. We are happy to partner with Howard County Community College to host our athletes. We have 150 international athletes that are here in town this weekend… 120 from Jamaica. We also have athletes from Haiti, Canada, the Cayman Islands, and Belize.”

Juliet Campbell, Puma Sports Marketing Manager for Running and a partner with Ayre at 2Eagle Sports and Entertainment said it was an easy choice for Puma when they first came on board to support the event. “Puma is very passionate about helping young athletes to develop, especially the young athletes from the Caribbean. It’s coming up for renegotiation, and we are looking forward to continuing this relationship with Puma; it’s something near and dear to my heart.”