Shanoya Douglas opens season with blazing 200m run at Sprint Fest

Shanoya Douglas of Muschett High delivered an impressive season-opening performance on Friday, winning the Girls’ Class Two 200m at the Sprint Fest meet at Ashenheim Stadium, Jamaica College (JC).

Douglas, who won the 200m bronze medal at the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Lima, Peru, last August, won the opening heat with ease, clocking 23.62 seconds in a negative 1.2 metres per second wind. Her time was easily the fastest across all four heats.

Natrece East of Wolmer’s Girls’ School, the Class Three sprint double champion at last year’s Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships, commonly known as Champs, finished second in Douglas’s heat with a time of 25.10 seconds, the second-fastest overall. Wolmer’s Tiana Marshall won heat two in 25.51 seconds, placing her third overall.

The 17-year-old Douglas has effectively launched her bid to defend the Class Two 200m-400m double title she secured at Champs last year. The rising star also won gold in the Under-20 200m at last year’s Carifta Games.

In the Boys’ Class Two 200m, Malique Dennis of JC posted the fastest time, clocking 22.05 seconds (-0.5 m/s). Byron Brown of Calabar High set a personal best of 22.15 seconds to finish second overall, while Rushaine Beckford of St Jago recorded a personal best of 22.44 seconds to place third.

In the Girls’ Class One 200m, Abigail Wolfe of Wolmer’s Girls’ School claimed the title with a time of 25.00 seconds, ahead of Tianna Rhoomes of St Mary High, who ran a personal best of 25.42 seconds, and Rochelle Wint of Hydel High, who also achieved a personal best with 25.57 seconds.

The Boys’ Class One event saw Ian Barker of St Catherine High setting a new personal best of 21.44 seconds, narrowly edging Sanjay Seymore of William Knibb Memorial, who finished with the same time but was placed second. Keano Charles of Calabar High secured third place with a personal best of 21.50 seconds.