The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

IT was a season to remember for quarter-miler Wendell Miller and sprinter Carlos Brown. But their Swift Athletics Track Club’s coach Andrew Tynes said what they did this year was just the tip of the iceberg.

Miller and Brown, two of the top junior athletes in the country, culminated their season by representing The Bahamas on the nine-member team that participated in the World Athletics’ Under-20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya from August 2-7.

The duo made it to the semifinal of the 100 metres where Miller posted a personal best time of 10.45 seconds for 11th overall and Brown followed in 12th with his lifetime best of 10.47. They came back in the 200m to get to the semis as well with Miller clocking 20.69 for 9th and Brown was 15th with 20.92.

Both competitors said under the supervision of Tynes, they are able to push each other in practice and that has transcended to the competition.

Miller, an 18-year-old graduate of St John’s College after transferring from CR Walker Secondary High, said he couldn’t ask for as better performance, considering the fact that he wasn’t at full strength, having had to deal with COVID-19 days before he left with the team.

“My experience was good. I got to see some of the challenges I will get to face in the future,” said Miller, who was is looking forward to returning to the Under-20 Championships in Cali, Columbia from August 2-7, 2022. “So it was a good experience running against some of the best junior athletes in the world.”

Not known for his speed, which has limited him from running the 100m, Miller said he was extremely impressed with his performance in the straight away race. But if there was any disappointment that he took away from the championships, it was the fact that he didn’t produce a PB (personal best) in the 200m.

“In the heats, I felt my hamstring, but I still ran the semi-finals,” he said. “I started to feel the injury, so I just decided to slow down.”

As for the 400m, Miller said having had to deal with COVID-19, he wasn’t at full strength and so it was a decision by coach Tynes and the staff for Team Bahamas for him to run the 100/200m combo rather than the 200/400m.

“I didn’t have the strength to run the 400m, so we agreed that I would just do the sprints,” Miller said. “But I know if I had done the 400m, I would have done better than I did in the 100 and 200 metres. I just have to wait to wait until next year when I will get a chance to do it again.”

Looking back at his experience, Miller said he’s grateful for the opportunity to travel to Kenya to represent the Bahamas. He said he went there and did the best he could under the circumstances that he was under.

“It just showed me that I have to go out there and work hard because the other athletes are working hard to win,” he said. “I just have to continue to work hard and focus on my training because they want it just as much as I do.

“I just need to train more, focus more and eat more healthy foods because I really have a bad eating habit. I can’t let anything distract me from what I have to do to be successful so that I can be prepared for the battle.”

Under Tynes, Miller said he feel he’s in the right environment to succeed because “he’s been there and done that” as an athlete and now a coach and he knows what they need to do to get to the next level.

At 15, Brown was the youngest member of Team Bahamas at the championships, but he didn’t allow it to get to him. He said he had dedicated his season to the memory of his deceased father, Carlos Brown Sr, who passed away earlier this year.

“The competition was stiff, so I got to experience what it was to run at a higher level,” he said. “It was good, but what I didn’t like was the air was very thin. But I had to cope with it.”

It was an even greater accomplishment for Brown to get his feet wet and to set the stage for next year when he hopes to go to and win both the 100 and 200m.

“I just need to work harder and stay focussed,” he said.

Reflecting on Tynes’ days as one of the top sprinters in the country and on the international scene, Brown said he too is honoured to be a part of the 60-plus members in the Swift Athletic Track Club and even training with Miller.

“He’s one of my training partners, so I’m not feeling any ways about it,” Brown said. “In practice, we challenge each other. Depending on the workout we do, each one of us get the better of the other. But that is what makes us better.”

Miller agreed.

“Depending on the workout we do, we push each other,” he stated.

Brown, now entering the 11th grade at St John’s College, said he’s looking forward to one day enrolling in college and eventually entering the professional ranks.

Miller, on the other hand, is waiting to make a decision on his future. Tynes said he’s gotten a couple of offers from colleges and universities, but there’s also two shoe company sponsorships that they are considering that would allow him to enter the pro ranks.

“He’s going to sit down with his parents and make the right decision that is in his best interest,” Tynes said. “The good thing about the shoe contracts is that they will also be taking care of his education, so I think he will be looking at one of them very soon.”

Having had the opportunity to train Brown since he was eight- years-old and Miller just for the past year, Tynes said their IQ for track and their abilities to get through their workout sessions has been the key to their success so far.

‘They want it,” he said. “When they come to practice, they separate themselves from the crowd and go at it. When practice is finished, they rejoin their peers and they are all one big happy family. But they are two special athletes with a bright future.”

Looking back at their performances in Nairobi, Tynes said it was remarkable, especially Miller, who couldn’t train in the lead up to the trip because of being exposed to COVID-19.

“His performance was really good, considering the circumstances that he was faced with,” Tynes said. “Carlos, on the other hand, for just 15 years old, he performed very well, running 10.5. They both ran faster than me when I was their age.

“As a coach, who has been there and done this, I know I can break them back down and build them back up to get them ready for next year. We just have some little things to work out and they will be ready to go.”

Hopefully, the duo will not only get to run at the junior level at the Carifta Games and the World Under-20 Championships, but Tynes said they should be a position to also compete at the senior level, even if it’s just as members on the men’s 4 x 100 and 4 x 400m relay teams at either the World Championships or the Commonwealth Games next year.