Bahamian junior national record holder in the boys’ 400 meters (m) Wendell Miller has decided to make the jump to the professional ranks straight from high school. He will be under the tutelage of Bahamian coach Henry Rolle at the Puma Elite Training Club in Boca Raton, Florida.
The 2021 St. John’s College graduate leaves for Florida on Friday October 8. He will be studying at the tertiary level while training, and will be in the developmental level of the club at first.
“I feel confident that I will make it going pro than going to college full-time. At the end of the day, I am still doing college. I will be doing both at the same time. I am very excited and ready to see what is in store for me for the future. It is a very good opportunity because not many young athletes like me get to go straight to the professional ranks,” Miller said.
Miller trained with the Swift Athletics Club and its head coach Andrew Tynes and had great success with the club last season. Tynes is very excited for the sprinter as he enters a new realm.
“The decision was his,” Tynes said. “I read over the contract and I sat down and spoke with him. I spoke with his mother, I spoke with his sister. They were the ones who basically encouraged him into making the decision. I look at the fact that Steven Gardiner went that route and the rest is history.
“Shaunae Miller-Uibo also took that route but she went to college for one year. I think it’s a good idea. I put that into his hands and he feels comfortable and I feel comfortable. I’m excited about it because I feel that with his talent he is going to go very far.”
Helping Miller to facilitate the move to Boca Raton is former national team coach Rolle.
“I have always kept an open mind, open heart and open arms for persons from The Bahamas. In any way I can assist and help, it is a privilege more to me than them. Having an opportunity in the company that I work for, it works hand-in-hand. I am just glad to be in a position to help,” Rolle said.
Rolle wants to ensure that Miller develops the right mindset, habits and routine in learning how to do things the “right way”, so he can progress to be the athlete that he can be. Tynes is very familiar with Rolle, having went to college with him and competing alongside him on several national teams, so he is comfortable with Miller being under the tutelage of Rolle.
Miller had a great season with one of the highlights being the new junior national record, breaking Stephen “Dirty” Newbold’s previous mark of 45.94 seconds. Miller’s new record time of 45.81 was done at the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) National Championships in June. He finished second behind Gardiner who ran 44.52 seconds and went on to win the Olympic title in Tokyo, Japan. Miller’s time has him listed at number 10 in the world among juniors this year.
Another accomplishment for the 18-year-old was running under 10.50 seconds in the 100m at the World Athletics World Under-20 Track and Field Championship in August in Nairobi, Kenya.
“I was very excited about my season, especially knowing that I am the holder of the junior national record in the 400 meters. I am very excited that I could do that. It was a great opportunity to run against the best in the world. It was a great season for me. When I ran in Kenya, I ran the 100 meters and ran a personal best of 10.45 seconds. I am very proud of myself because I usually do not run the 100m,” Miller said.
Miller is no stranger to the 200m, running a personal best of 20.61 seconds this year. He is ranked at number 16 in the world among the juniors in that event.
Tynes, who is a former national record holder in the men’s 100 and 200m, acquired Miller as an athlete from University of The Bahamas’ Head Coach Ednal Rolle, and said that Miller had an amazing season.
“Talent. That’s going to take him to the very top. I got him from Ednal Rolle… when he came to me, he came from Ednal, so he had the foundation when he came. What I did was, I just sharpened him up and the rest is history. He had an amazing season. Talent-wise, his future, once he stays healthy, he is a future world champion and Olympic champion,” Tynes stated.
Tynes has other up-and-coming athletes in the club. One of the most notable is sprinter Carlos Brown Jr. – still a youth athlete at 15-years-old. The St. John’s student is listed fourth in the world in the under-18 category in the 200m for 2021 with a time of 20.99 seconds. He has a personal best time of 10.47 seconds in the 100m dash, and is in a four-way tie for the eighth fastest in the world.
Coming up behind Brown are athletes such as 13-year-old Ishmael Rolle who is the record holder in the 100m and 200m in the 13-year-old age group at the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) National Club Championships. In the 100m, he ran a time of 11.32 seconds and in the 200m he has a time of 23.04 seconds. Since he joined the club, Rolle said that he saw improvement in his speed. The St. John’s student is looking forward to the upcoming season in which he hopes to lower his times.
Alisa Sherman is another athlete who Tynes is training. The 16-year-old C.I. Gibson Senior High School student had a minor setback last season with a back injury and was indifferent about her season. She was hoping to make the CARIFTA team next year. Samalie Farrington ran in the under-20 division for the first time last year and is looking forward to next season. The R.M. Bailey Senior High student looks to improve his times. Both Sherman and Farrington said they have grown a lot by being a part of the club.
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