Three Jamaican high schools – Jamaica College (JC), Hydel High, and Holland High – will send a combined 12 athletes to contest individual events at the second staging of the New York International Showcase, set for Saturday at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island, New York.
The meet, founded by Jamaican Olympian Sanjay Ayre, continues to grow in stature and prestige. For the first time, both JC and Holland High will be represented at the indoor showcase.
Organisers say 3,500 athletes from 280 high schools and clubs have already registered for the meet. In its debut staging, the New York International Showcase was ranked the third-best high school track and field meet in the United States for Most Nationally Elite Performances by MileSplit, the nation’s premier high school track and field and cross-country network, during the 2025 indoor season.
JC, who finished third in the boys’ section at last year’s ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships, and Hydel, winners of their second girls’ title in three years, will each be represented by five athletes in individual events. Holland High, based in Trelawny, will be represented by two athletes in a meet featuring some of the top high school competitors from across the United States and the wider region.
Much of the spotlight will fall on outstanding junior sprinter Shanoya Douglas, the 18-year-old who will compete in the colours of Holland High after following her long-time coach Gary Smythe from Muschett High at the start of the new school year in September.
Douglas will be returning to Staten Island after an impressive indoor debut at the meet last year, where she captured three medals, including gold. Her standout performance came in the women’s 300m invitational, where she clocked 37.78 seconds to set a new Jamaican Under-20 national record.
The World Under-20 200m bronze medallist also finished second in the women’s 60m invitational in 7.44 seconds behind US-based Trinidadian Lisa Raye of West Warwick High, who won in a then personal best 7.24. Douglas rounded off her meet with another runner-up finish in the girls’ 55m invitational, posting 6.91 behind Raye’s 6.74.
Douglas, who endured a long and demanding outdoor season last year, is again slated to contest the women’s 60m and 300m invitationals.
She will be joined by teammate Johan-Ramaldo Smythe, who also followed his father and coach Garth Smythe to Holland High. The 18-year-old returns to Staten Island after competing in three events at last year’s staging.
Smythe finished second in the Boys’ 200m Invitational in 21.55 seconds, narrowly beaten by Shaun McCoullum of George Washington High (21.47). He also placed fourth in both the boys’ 55m (6.43) and the Boys’ 60m Invitational (6.91).
Smythe enters the meet in impressive form after an outstanding showing at the JC development meet, where he shattered the Boys’ Class 1 100m record with a time of 10.47 seconds and also posted a strong 21.10 in the 200m.
Hydel’s challenge will be led by Nastassia Fletcher, who, last year, dominated the girls’ varsity 500m with a convincing win in 1:12.98. Fletcher is down to compete in the 400m on Saturday.
She will be supported by Sashana Johnson, who finished fourth in last year’s Girls’ 400m Invitational in 56.23 seconds. Johnson will contest the 200m, an event in which she placed 13th overall last year in 24.76 seconds.
JC and Hydel will also field 4x200m relay teams, adding further Jamaican interest to the event.
JAMAICAN INDIVIDUAL ENTRIES
Jamaica College: Omary Robinson (400m), Makaelan Woods (200m), Nathaniel Martin (200m), DeAndre Gayle (200m), Kai Kelly (60m)
Hydel High: Shemonique Hazle (60m), Nastassia Fletcher (400m), Aaliyah Mullings (60m hurdles, 400m), Sashana Johnson (200m), Kevina Bourne (200m)
Holland High: Shanoya Douglas, Johan-Ramaldo Smythe
