Just 10 days after excelling at the Barbados Grand Prix, Davonte Howell and Rasheem Brown carried their momentum over to the Ed Murphey Classic in Memphis, Tennessee.
Both sprinters delivered impressive performances on 12 July with Howell securing a gold medal and Brown achieving a new personal best.
Howell earned first place with a 10.15-second 100-metre sprint at the Barbados Grand Prix and continued his winning streak at the Ed Murphey Classic.
He made his mark at the Classic, advancing from the pre-program round (timed finals), placing second in his heat with a time of 9.93 seconds (wind-aided +2.1 metres per second).
Later that day, he went on to claim first place in the finals with a time of 10.07 seconds (exact time 10.067 with legal wind +0.1 metres per second).
For Howell, this type of momentum feels “good”, and he told the Compass, “It’s just about stacking these wins and continuing to execute the races that I need to be running.”
He said that during the Classic, he executed the first 30 metres very well in the first round but not as well in the second, so this is something he has been working on improving.
His next major competition is the 2025 Junior Pan American Games in Paraguay from 9-23 Aug. where he’ll be running for the Cayman Islands in the 100-metre sprint.
This year marked Brown’s second appearance at the Ed Murphey Classic; in 2024, he placed eighth in the 110m hurdles with a time of 13.69 seconds.
He returned this year freshly motivated after his recent 13.50-second season-best Grand Prix performance and clocked a new personal best of 13.45 seconds (legal wind +1.9 metres per second) during his pre-program race.
Shortly after, he competed in the finals, finishing fourth with a time of 13.39 seconds (wind-aided +3.3 metres per second) which is approaching nearing the current Cayman Islands men’s 110m hurdles national record of 13.36 seconds set by Ronald Forbes in 2016.
Wind-aided times are not considered legal under World Athletics rules, which permit a maximum wind assistance of +2.0 metres per second; however, wind-aided times are often marked or noted in a specific way to distinguish them from the runner’s other legally achieved times.
Reflecting on his time achieved in the finals and comparing it to the current Cayman Islands national record, Brown told the Compass, “To put it into perspective, the national record is 13.36 seconds, so although my 13.39 seconds doesn’t count as legal, it gives me great confidence that I can go even faster under the right conditions.”
Brown said this personal best “means everything” to him as it showcases that he is consistently improving with each race, ultimately boosting his confidence, especially as he pushes to meet the 2025 World Championships standard of 13.27 seconds.
He attributed his improved performance to specific training adjustments saying, “My coach, Mr. Fitz Coleman, and I have been focusing on the latter part of my race, which has been a challenge for me in the past. Over the last two weeks, we’ve been fine-tuning those areas, and the progress is beginning to show.”
He added, “Based on how I’ve been training, I knew it was only a matter of time before a personal best came.”
Having earned a master’s degree last year at the University of Tennessee, Brown said he is currently an unsponsored athlete still pursuing his goals in the sport and is focused on finding more high-level competitions while securing the support he needs to qualify for the World Championships team.
