Donald bounces back! - Edwin Allen half-miler returns to competition after injury

There were many winners at last Saturday's STETHS Invitational, but none made a bigger step forward than Edwin Allen middle-distance prospect Cemore Donald, who ran her first race in three years. Donald returned after a long struggle with injury to place fourth in the class one 800 metres. It was a race where the time didn't matter.

Surrounded by teammates after she completed the distance in 2 minutes 31.04 seconds, Donald was all smiles. "It's good to have her back on track," said Edwin Allen coach Michael Dyke. "She has been still going through her therapy but she has got clearance to start to train and competing, and probably this would have been one of her slowest runs ever but it's good to know that she was able to run and finish. That's a good sign, and she can only get better as the season progresses."

It will take time before the long-legged Donald gets back to the form that won her gold medals at Boys and Girls' Championships in 2015, 2016 and 2017. "I noticed there's a slight limp but there was no pain when I spoke to her and she wanted to come and run, you know, to come and get a feel, and you wanted to feel a part of the team and get her back into competition, so I chose STETHS as a meet that would, you know, allow her to feel a lot more comfortable with her first appearance since that year," Dyke said.

Happy but not in a rush

Injured and unable to complete Champs in 2018, she hurt a knee in a bicycle accident later that year. That's behind her now. "She's very happy with her first run," Dyke added.

Despite the joy of seeing the 2016 Carifta Games under-17 800 and 1500-metre champion on track again, there's no rush to get her back to top speed in time for this year's staging of Champs in March. Dyke is looking further ahead. "I'm not trying to force her or push her, you know, for Champs, just want to get her healthy because it is her final year and if she could get a scholarship, it would be good for her," he told STAR Sports during the 38th staging of the STETHS meet. "So that's my main objective right now."

At her best, Donald is especially good at 800 metres with gold medals in class two and class three and a 2017 class two winning time of 2 minutes 08.01 seconds. In that race, she defeated Foote and last year's class one winner Charokee Young.