Cameron backs Prince for success at Texas Tech
Published:Monday | June 13, 2022 | 12:08 AMDaniel Wheeler/Staff Reporter
Veteran track and field coach Bertland Cameron says that the coachability of national junior sprinter Gregory Prince will be a great asset as he prepares to transition to the college ranks with Texas Tech University in the United States.
The school made the announcement on social media last Tuesday, as Prince will join the track and field programme this fall after a season that saw him claim the Class One boys’ 400 metres title at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships two months ago.
The interest in Prince was not from his recent performances, Cameron said, but began last year and manifested into the athlete trusting the school in being able to help him push forward in his young career.
“Texas Tech had an interest in him from last year, before they even believed that he could run the way he ran at Champs,” Cameron told The Gleaner. “They had an interest in him and they developed a friendship; and they kept on talking to him and encouraging him. So he decided that if he is qualified academically, he would go there because he believes that they are going to treat him well.”
Under Cameron’s guidance, Prince claimed the 400m crown in a new personal-best 45.99 seconds in his final season for St Jago High School, after a training regime that he described subsequently as rigorous. Cameron says that beyond his athletic ability, it is his willingness to learn and improve which makes him capable of excelling at the collegiate level.
“He is a serious student athlete. He knows what he wants, he listens well. You don’t just coach him, you teach him,” Cameron said. “Last year, his best time in the 400m was 48.50. You teach him how to run the race; he listens, he asks questions. And he knows exactly what he wants, he wants to go to university and he now gets that opportunity.”
FUNDAMENTALS PROPERLY
Cameron, a World 400m champion in 1983, says that he sees himself in Prince in how he technically executes a race, and believes that he has a chance to make his first senior team at the World Championships in July, should he execute the fundamentals properly.
“He runs like me. His transition is like somebody who runs it like a professional. I don’t know what will happen when it comes to the seniors, but if he continues to run the race as I taught him, then he should do well,” Cameron said.
Prince is expected to compete with the senior athletes at the National Championships in two weeks.