There were fears that former Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships Class Three 400m winner Devonte Haywood’s career would have ended in high school after a series of injuries and other issues which kept him on the sidelines.

With his former school Munro College not competing in track and field, the Trelawny native had a decision to make, and despite options to attend schools in the Corporate Area, he decided to transfer to Rusea’s High.

After last week’s victory in the Class One boys’ 400m running 48.48 seconds and interest from US colleges, Haywood says he feels reborn.

“It’s great to be out here competing,” said Haywood who won has previous Western Champs event in 2019 while still at Munro College, but missed the 2020 season due to injuries.

“We have been working a lot on the injuries and I can safety say that I am pretty much healthy,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

He listed his injures as a strained adductor magnus, scar tissues on his hamstring “and some issues with my hips”.

Haywood looked comfortable while winning the 400m last week and while it was a season’s best he said he was just executing what he had worked on at training.

The best is still to come he said and come next week at the ISSA Champs he will run faster, “Come Champs I am expecting a better performances, coach (Rodick Myles) and I are going back to the drawing board and fixing what we need to fix and to fine-tune.

“I am extremely excited to be able to run I cant even put into words,” Haywood said.

— Paul Reid