Dyke will miss Dwyer, McLean in sky blue

WHEN RUSHANA Dwyer and Jessica McLean compete at this week’s JAAA National Junior/Senior Championships, it will be the last of their many middle-distance races in the famous sky blue of Edwin Allen High School.

Dwyer and McLean helped to cement the growing Edwin Allen ISSA Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships (Champs) dynasty but with their high school years at an end, they are set for new horizons.

Edwin Allen head coach Michael Dyke is sad to see them go.

“They would have had a very successful Champs career and you know, we’re truly going to miss them because they have been two good soldiers to us over the years, have always been delivering and you know the fact that the time has come for us to say goodbye, we just have to part but we are hoping that we will find other girls that will, you know, follow in their footsteps,” he hoped.

Together, they amassed 115 points at Champs, with Dwyer scoring 66 and McLean 49. Fittingly, their last Champs contest, the class one 800 metres, ended with them going 1-2 with Dwyer completing her collection of two lap titles in class one, two and three.

In addition, they contributed mightily to Edwin Allen’s domination of the 4x800 relay at home and abroad. With Dwyer and McLean on duty, Edwin Allen was near on unbeatable at the Gibson Relays and the Western Relays in Jamaica and the pair spurred sky blue success in 2019 and 2021.

Individually, Dwyer won six gold medals at Champs, four in the 800 and two in the 1500 metres. For her part, McLean won two silvers and four bronze medals during a sojourn interrupted in 2020 by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dyke also hopes that they will, one day, continue the fine work done by Natoya Goule in the 800 metres on the world stage.

“I am hoping that,” he replied.

“One of the things that I did is ensure that Jessica will be going pretty close to Natoya. So she’ll be going to Clemson so Natoya is working with coach Elliot so hopefully, she’ll get a chance before Goule decides to hang up her spikes to spend some time. Hopefully, she can benefit from that,” he said.

McLean will be taking up a scholarship to Clemson University where Goule trains under the guidance of Jamaican Mark Elliot.

At the time of this interview, a final decision on the US collegiate destination for Dwyer hadn’t been made.

Both of the departing Edwin Allen seniors will run on Thursday, Dwyer in the under-20 girls’ 800 metres and McLean with the women’s field, which is headed by Goule.