Reigning World Under 20 200 meters bronze medallist Jamaica's Shanoya Douglas and US Mile relay gold medalist Quincy Wilson, are some of the marquee names down to compete at the inaugural New York International showcase track meet for high schools.
A brain child of Jamaican Olympian Sanjay Ayre, the event will be staged at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island over two days on January 24 and 25, 2025.
Douglas the reigning Jamaica Class two Jamaican champion, will lead the Muschett High School team which is one of four Jamaican schools participating in the meet - Calabar, Excelsior and Hydel are the other confirmed Jamaican Schools so far.
Listed to compete as well is the sensational 16 year old Quincy Wilson who made history in Paris during the summer as the youngest male U.S. track Olympian in history.
Teams from Australia, Canada and the best the United States have to offer will also be on show.
According to Ayre an Olympic mile relay silver medallist "The concept of the meet is to highlight marquee match ups for high school athletes from around the world". Ayre pointed out that "For a longtime in the United States athletes are just competing against each other all year round, same in Jamaica, and they don't get the opportunity to travel overseas and compete against their counterparts unless they are doing so for their national teams".
Ayre added that: "With this event they are giving the athletes adequate opportunities to run in a showcase where top universities will be there scouting them and just giving them international exposure so they could be seen by a broad spectrum of track and field fans".
Planned as an annual event, this first effort by the always entrepreneurial Ayre, who is making a personal six-figure investment to get the Showcase off the ground, is expected to attract up to 2,500 participants.
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