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Thieanna Lee Terrelonge, Edwin Allen High's 16 year-old athletic prodigy, has had an electrifying start to the track and field season, with sublime performances in her first year in Class Two.

First, she blazed to a personal best of 11.30 seconds to win the 100 metres at the Pure Water/JC/R. Danny Williams meet at Ashenheim Stadium. One week later, she stopped the clock at 23.73 seconds in winning the 200 metres at the JAAA/Puma/Fuller/Anderson meet at G.C. Foster College.

On both occasions, Terrelonge produced the fastest time in the respective event, and promised even bigger things for the rest of the season.

"The best is yet to come and, by the help of God, once I remain healthy and injury-free, I am very confident of running 11.1 and sub-23 seconds in both events," said Terrelonge.

According to Terrelonge, she is not surprised by her fast times at the start of the season, as she is on a mission to perform excellently at the World Under-20 Championships in Lima, Peru, later this year.

In an interview with STAR Sports before the start of the season, Terrelonge's coach Michael Dyke pronounced that she was the finest sprinter he has ever coached at Edwin. He was expecting special performances from her this season.

Quizzed about being pressured by the coach, Terrelonge said: "I am not pressured by his comments, as my coach is the best high-school coach on the island, and he knows what I have been doing in training and what I can do, as he believes in me and so do I in him."

Terrelonge's journey has taken her from Buff Bay Primary, where injury impeded her development and affected her performance on the national stage before her abilities started to shine at a meet in the United States of America.

PRIMARY CHAMPS

"At primary school, I competed at the National Primary Championships at Stadium East but, because of an injury, I did not do well. I competed at the Miami Classics in 2018 and 2019. I came second in both the 100 and 200 metres in 2018, and was third in the long jump in 2019," she said.

Meanwhile, according to Terrelonge, her stay at Edwin has been lovely, although she was unaware of their capabilities while attending and competing at primary school.

"I did not know about Edwin Allen while in primary school, but, for my PEP (Primary Exit Profile) examination, it was chosen as my first choice by my mother and, after four years so far there, I have no regrets," she shared.

Terrelonge showed glimpses of her immense talent last year, despite missing most of her background training because of an injury, but she still had excellent performances at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls' Athletics Championships (Champs).

"Winning the Class Three Girls' 100 metres and finishing second in the 200 metres at Champs last year, I was a bit surprised with both results, knowing that I only did little background training because of injury," she said.

She represented Edwin at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia in the 4x100 metres relay, and Jamaica at the NACAC Under-18 Championships in San Jose, Costa Rica.

"Being just a Class Three athlete, I felt good to represent my school at the Penn Relays. It was not the result I wanted after a mishap on the first exchange between Serena Cole and myself, but I am determined to help my team make up for that mishap this year," she said confidently.

Terrelonge ended her season on a high at the NACAC Championships in San Jose, as she won the Under-18 Girls' 100 and 200 metres in a personal best of 11.41 seconds and 23.53 seconds. Earlier, she had won the Under-20 sprint double at the National Junior Championships.

"I felt good knowing that I was able to end the season on a high, despite an injury earlier on, and those performances really gave me a lot of confidence coming into the 2024 season," she stated.