A waiting game for Pinnock

March 17, 2020
From left: David Myrie, principal, Kingston College,Tarees Rhoden, captain, track team and head coach, Leaford Grant  present The Mortimer Geddes trophy for Inter-Secondary Schools Athletics to the school during a Champs Celebration held at Kingston College on April 1, 2019.
From left: David Myrie, principal, Kingston College,Tarees Rhoden, captain, track team and head coach, Leaford Grant present The Mortimer Geddes trophy for Inter-Secondary Schools Athletics to the school during a Champs Celebration held at Kingston College on April 1, 2019.
Wayne Pinnock
Wayne Pinnock
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The outbreak of the coronavirus did not just rob Kingston College star athlete Wayne Pinnock of participating in what would have been his last ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls' Athletics Championships, it also postpone his SAT examinations and left his future hanging in the balance.

Pinnock, who broke two records at Champs last year, returned to school for his third year in Class One, and according to him, he had 'unfinished' business to do on the track and in the classroom. He told STAR Sports yesterday that he is now not certain of his next move as the deadly virus has paused his schooling.

"I am not sure at the moment," Pinnock said when asked about his plans. "Scholarships wise, I am not certain as I should have taken the SAT last Saturday."

He continued: "Not sure at the moment. Scholarships wise, I am not certain as I should have taken the SAT last Saturday."

Despite the unfortunate circumstances, Pinnock does not regret exercising the option of returning to school for his final year.

Very disappointed

"No, I had some more work to put in like to finish up with my academics but the virus has really cancelled a lot of things," Pinnock responded when asked if he regrets coming back to school.

Pinnock was on track to have another outstanding Champs. The 18-year-old blitzed to 13.09, .03 seconds outside of the his personal best on February 1. He also has a season best of 7.43 metres in the long jump.

Last week, the stakeholders decided to cancel this year's staging of Champs against the wishes of many high school coaches. Kingston College's head coach Leaford Grant is one of those coaches.

"Our final-year athletes were very disappointed when they got the news that the Championships was off. Since then, they have been calling me on several occasions saying how disappointed they are," he said. "I felt it very hard for Wayne (Pinnock) and Roshawn (Rowe), as I was very confident that both athletes would have won their events. Wayne in the 110m hurdles and long jump and Roshawn in the 100 metres."

Jeremy Delisser, the man who has guided Pinnock in the long jump shared similar sentiments." We are all disappointed. Wayne was preparing well for the Championships along with the Penn Relays and was eager to defend his respective titles at these meets". "He was hoping to use these meets in preparing for the National Senior Championships, where he was hoping to do well in his bid to make it to the Olympic Games but we are just hoping that the virus will go away and a meet can be planned so some of these athletes can get a chance to perform,"said Delisser.

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