With his junior years now behind him, Leon Powell, coach of promising Jamaican sprinter Bryan Levell, says he is confident that his young charge will make a successful transition into the senior ranks next season.

Levell, who currently attends the Edwin Allen High School, turns 19 on December 23, and while he is eligible to compete at the ISSA/Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships next year, he will not be able to participate in junior competitions next season, as he is set to turn 20 next year.

According to Powell, Levell is no stranger to the senior competition, this after he finished eighth in the final of the men’s 100m event at the National Senior Championships in 2021. He says once Levell remains fit and healthy, the sky is the limit.

“My expectation is for him to run faster, but I am not going to say what time because sometimes you set times and [you] might be disappointed that you don’t achieve them,” said Powell.

“He is not a junior anymore so he will definitely have to compete against the seniors, and I am sure that barring injuries and setbacks, I know that he will be ready for the next step of his life.

“He is one year older and his main focus is not going to be Champs next year even though he will be competing there as part of his build-up to the National Senior Championships,” he added.

Levell suffered a hamstring injury in May this year, which forced him to miss the National Junior and Senior Championships. However, he recovered in time to place sixth in the final of the World Under-20 200m event in Cali, Colombia, in a new personal best time of 20.34 in August.

He holds a personal best of 10.21 in the 100m.

Powell explained that the lanky sprinter, who won the boys’ Class One 200m title at this year’s ‘Champs’ has grown in confidence since making the final of the senior 100m at the National Championships in 2021, boosted by that feat, he will be aiming for a spot on Jamaica’s team to next year’s World Championships.

“Next year is a World Championships year and the aim is to get him on the World Championships team, therefore, his training and preparations will be geared towards that for next season,” he said.

“Since that eighth-place finish, he has grown in confidence and what you saw this year was as a result of that and even now he is still nowhere where he should be, but he has been improving and one of the things that helped him was the exposure that he got in 2021,” Powell ended.