Talented Gregory Prince takes on seniors
Coach promises St Jago standout will head to college before considering pro career
Published:Sunday | May 15, 2022 | 12:11 AMRobert Bailey - Gleaner Writer
OLYMPIAN AND veteran coach Bertland Cameron says his teenage quarter-miler, Gregory Prince, has nothing to fear when he goes up against the senior athletes at this year’s National Championships slated for the National Stadium from June 23-26.
Prince, 19, who attends St Jago High School, has not lost a 400m race this season in his final year of high school eligibility. In fact, he won the Class One boys 400m at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships in a new personal best time of 45.99 seconds in April.
Cameron, who is the 1984 World 400m champion and head coach of Cameron Blazers Track Club, believes Prince is talented enough to secure a spot on Jamaica’s team to this year’s World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, from July 15-24.
“I am hoping that he comes out there and puts on his A game, and if he puts on his A game, six people can’t beat him,” said Cameron.
“When it comes to 400m, he is not afraid to run because he has not lost a 400m race this year at all,” he said.
LATE BLOOMER
“He ran 46 seconds about five times and then he ran 45.99 just to win, and this year is the first year that he is running those sorts of times, so he is one that you call a late bloomer,” Cameron said.
Prince’s time makes him the 11th fastest Jamaican in the world this year behind Jevaughn Powell, who is the country’s fastest in the world over the 400m with a time of 45.29.
Cameron pointed out that despite Prince’s exceptional talent, the teenager will be attending college in the United States in August, instead of joining the professional ranks because he has received a lot of scholarship offers.
“Once I find a youth like that and he is educated, he has to go to school and when he is finished and he feels like coming back to me, then he can come to me, but I will be in contact with him still while he is in college,” he said.
“He wants to go to school in the (United) States and there is no two ways about that, he is going to school,” Cameron said.
“He will pick the college for himself, but he has gotten over 40 college offers and he is qualified for Divisional One schools in the States,” he said.
Cameron underscored that he enjoys working with Prince because outside of his talent, he works very hard.
“He is a very good prospect for the future. He shows up on time and he does everything that he is supposed to do, the same way like he does in the classroom. He is a no-nonsense youth who knows what is a good quarter-miler and he is working on it,” Cameron said.