Whether she continues with the 400 metres and 400m hurdles or dabbles in the 100m, Hydel High School captain Oneika McAnuff wants to finish her high school career the same way that she has for the last seven years: helping her team in anyway she can.
McAnuff finished second in the Class One Girls’ 100m at last Saturday’s Camperdown Classic, clocking 11.95 seconds, in her heat behind teammate Alliah Baker, who came first in 11.79. McAnuff’s time was just 0.04 seconds slower than the 11.91 she clocked at the St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) invitational last month.
McAnuff, the reigning Class One 400m Hurdles champion and 400m silver medallist, has been in good form to start her final campaign as a Hydel student. She has now competed in her second 100m race of the season, but she says any decision to compete in the 100m this year at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Championships would be made by Hydel head coach Corey Bennett.
“I wouldn’t say no, but it is up to my coach. Whatever he thinks is best, whatever event he thinks that I can best help the team in, that is the event he will ask me to do,” McAnuff told The Gleaner.
While her immediate future is waiting for her at the University of Kentucky, McAnuff is grateful for how Bennett has helped her grow as an athlete and a person over the past seven years.
“I have been at Hydel since I was 12 years old. He has been like a second father. He has helped to develop me over the years that every year I earned at least two medals. It is an emotional feeling leaving Hydel. I know that he coached me well, and he continues to coach others coming up,” McAnuff said.
But her immediate focus is to bring an end to a high school career that has seen success locally, regionally, and nationally. Last year, she won silver in the 400m at the 2022 Carifta Games and silver as part of the Under-20 girls 4x400m relay team at the Under-20 World Championships.
Grateful for the time she has spent at the St Catherine-based institution, McAnuff wants to finish on a high, hoping to continue the school’s recent level of consistency at Champs.
“It’s been a good seven years. Now I just want to be a good captain in my last year and to be better than I was last year,” McAnuff said.