Samantha Pryce still recovering from Penn’s broken leg

WHEN SAMANTHA Pryce lined up for the 4x800 metre relay at the 2022 Penn Relays, she was riding on a wave. Pryce, a Holmwood Technical senior, had gold medals from the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships and the Carifta Games as testimony to her hard work.

One minute and 50 seconds into her first leg, tragedy struck. Running in traffic, Pryce fell and broke her leg.

A year later, on April 20, Holmwood head coach Dave Anderson recalled the trauma.

“After the news that her leg was broken, that would have sent shock waves through the team,” said Anderson.

He was full of praise for Pryce.

“She has been a girl who fought all the way and seeing her last run for Holmwood end in tragedy, it didn’t go down well with us.

“She’s a very strong individual and we were glad that she got the best treatment possible at the time.”

Despite the trouble, the 2022 Girls’ Championships steeplechase winner won a scholarship to Benedict College in South Carolina, USA.

“She’s basically using the rest of the season to go through her rehabilitation. The school is very patient. They know the quality that she brings once she’s fully fit. So they are taking their time to allow her to build her academic status there for this semester and then, they’re hopeful that next season she’ll be up and running athletically,” Anderson reported.

“Last year, our objective was to give the youngsters some Penn Relay experience. Only one person in the group would have gone to Penn Relays before. That was Rickiann Russell. So, all the other members, it was their first time, and I think the occasion would have gotten to them,” the coach stated.

The 2023 Holmwood unit is led by outgoing seniors Russell and Cedricka Williams, the record-breaking discus thrower.

“Saying this and saying that, I think that they would have seen the high level of competition, been better prepared this time around, so I’m a bit more optimistic they will give a far better performance than last year.”

Holmwood’s best chance on the track is probably in the 4x400, where Champs and Carifta 400 champion Russell is the ace. Third at Champs in three minutes, 36.46 seconds, Holmwood will need something extra to beat Edwin Allen High and Hydel High.

“After a very fabulous season, she’s hoping to end on a high and I know if all things being equal, and if she’s put in a position to bring us a championship, it will happen because I know she’s of that championship mettle,” he said of Russell.

Russell burned a 51.3-second anchor leg at Champs and blitzed a 51 flat closer at the Gibson-McCook Relays. However, she has often been stranded when the baton arrives. “It’s always too much, so I think I have to come up with the right strategy to give the team, and her, a chance of us at least getting to the line first.”

Russell was a member of the winning Holmwood 4x400 in 2019.