By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

The decision to switch from playing basketball to running track as a high school student who moved from Doris Johnson to Queen’s College, from competing in the 400 metres to the sprints and transferring from Clemson University to the University of Florida, has paid off big dividends for Wanya McCoy.

Now in his junior year in college, McCoy highlighted his season over the weekend when he powered his way to a pair of second-place finishes in his specialty in the men’s 200 metres and another in the 100m at the Southeastern Conference Championships in Gainesville, Florida.

With a lifetime best of 19.93 seconds, McCoy became the third fastest Bahamian as he also earned the No.2 time in NCAA Division I for the 2024 season and the No.4 time in the Gators’ history.

To top it off, McCoy achieved the qualifying standard for the men’s 200m for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, July 27 to August 11.

The performance came after he ran the fourth fastest time by a Bahamian in the 100m in a personal best of 10.02 that fell short of the Olympic qualifier, but was the No.6 on the Florida All-Time top 10 list.

“I was ecstatic about my performances,” said McCoy about his performances over the weekend. “I had a pretty good indoor season and then I got injured and I had to sit out for about a month and I missed nationals.

“After the injury, I came back outdoors and I opened up with the 200m with a personal best and two weeks later, I ran the 100m and was close to my personal best. I only ran about three races during the outdoor season.

“I then went to the SEC Championships this weekend where I ran my PR every round in the 100m. I was kind of mad I didn’t get the sub-10 for the Olympic qualification, but I am looking forward to getting it so I can do the sprint double in my first national team.”

As for the 200m, McCoy said he was right on target and he performed as anticipated, making the Olympic cut and now he can get ready for the long trek to Paris this summer.

“For me to run the 19 seconds was pretty good because I never ran under 20-seconds,” he said. “I went from 20.4 to 19.9, so that was a huge jump. But coming into the meet, I wanted to do it in the preliminaries because I wasn’t sure how the finals would go. When I didn’t do it in the preliminaries, I knew I had to go for it in the final. When I saw the time on the clock, I wanted to cry, but I had to hold in my emotions because I still had the 4 x 400m relay to run.”

McCoy, 21, now trails co-national record holders Derrick Atkins and Terrence Jones (9.91) and Samson Colebrooke (10.01) on the top Bahamian century list and national record holder Steven Gardiner (19.75) and Jones (19.93) in the half-lap race.

McCoy said he now wants to go after the Bahamian national records in both events and hopefully be a medal contender at the Olympics.

“If I get to run what I want to run, I may just forfeit my senior year and just go pro,” McCoy said. “Tomorrow is not promised to anybody, so if I can go for it, I will do it.”

To achieve his Olympic dream as a collegiate in what he called a “breakout” junior year, McCoy said he remembers getting started running track competitively in 2021 and he made his first national team to compete at the NACAC Championships in Costa Rica last year. “I said then that I believe the Bahamas would have its biggest track and field team going to the Olympics in 2024,” he recalled. “For me to make it as a junior in college, I basically spoke it into existence.

“I really didn’t expect to be a part of the team for an individual event. I was thinking about making it for the relay team. But to be there in an individual event is going to be bigger than what I anticipated. I can’t wait.”

Although he ran track and field for fun, McCoy was concentrating on basketball as a member of the Doris Johnson Mystic Marlins’ senior boys team. He came off the bench as he played alongside his older brother Malachi McCpoy, in his senior year when the Mystic Marlins repeated as champions in 2019.

Wanya McCoy then transferred to Queen’s College in 2020 where head coach Everette Fraser worked with him through his Fast Forward Track Club to develop the 6-feet, 4 3/4-inches frame into a 200/400m specialist.

After graduating from Queen’s College in 2021, McCoy was able to secure a scholarship to attend Clemson. He then entered the transfer portal last June and by July had signed with Florida.

“At first I was scared because I didn’t know what to expect,” McCoy said. “It was a whole new environment, new coaches and you didn’t know how you would do.

“But I had the faith and confidence that I would be able to do it. I think I made the right choice. I made the choice of my life. It worked out for me. And I always wanted to be closer to home.”

On entering college in 2022, McCoy made the switch from running the 400 to the 100/200 double, a move he was just as pleased with.

“I think it was a good decision, but no matter what, I will continue running the 200m. That is my bread and butter,” McCoy said. “So switching from the 400m to the 100m is something that I needed to do.”

At last year’s indoor season, McCoy said he ran his last college 400m. But he didn’t rule out the possibility of running the event outdoors when he turns pro.

“I want to get the NCAA title in the Nationals and then go to the Olympics and do my thing,” said McCoy, who is ranked at No.2 in the 200 and No4 in the 100m. “I know a lot of peo-ple counted me out because of the injury, but now they see that I’m back healthy.

“I know for a fact that there aren’t four guys in the NCAA who are better than me. I’m not being boastful, but I just don’t think there are that many guys out there who are better than me right now.”

As long as he continues to be the “person, who is he and just executes his races,” McCoy said he stands a chance at being the NCAA champion.

He thanks God, his parents, Sandra and Sergio McCoy coach Fraser, who inspire him to run track, as well as his brothers and sisters, including his role model, Malachi, who is in South Carolina after just graduating from Benedict College.

Fraser had nothing, but commendation for McCoy, who is still a member of his Fast Track Athletics team.

“I saw his potential from wh3en he was in high school” said Fraser, of coaching McCoy at Queen’s College. “I always felt he was a fellow who could run 19-seconds in the 200 and 44-seconds in the 400.

“He’s not running the 400m anymore, but I know he could do it. I’m very proud of his accomplishments in the 200 and now in the 100. I always knew he could do it. He made a lot of sacrifices to get to where he is right now.”

Fraser said he’s excited to see what the future holds for Fraser, whom he feels will make the adjustment from the collegiate to the pro ranks, just as it was a smooth transition in his other areas of his career.

“Our job is just to set him up so he could be successful in life and it shows that he is making the adjustment,” Fraser said. “He made a big move from Clemson to Florida and everything is working out for him.”

McCoy is currently studying educational science.