Edwin Allen standout sprinter Serena Cole has signed a professional contract with Nike, well-placed sources have confirmed to Sportsmax.TV. According to other sources, she will train under the guidance of world-renowned coach Stephen Francis at the MVP Track Club in Kingston.
A talented long jumper, Cole, who turns 19 in June, is the latest Jamaican female sprinter to join the professional ranks straight out of high school following on the heels of World U20 100m champion Tina Clayton, her twin sister Tia and Kerrica Hill, the World U20 100m hurdles champion.
Several calls to Edwin Allen Head Coach Michael Dyke and a call to MVP President Bruce James went unanswered on Thursday.
The two-time World U20 champion was a member of Jamaica’s 4x100m team that set three World U20 records in the Women U20 4x100m relay. She was the lead-off runner when the team ran 42.94 at the World U20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya in 2021.
Cole was also the lead-off runner in April 2022 on a team that also included the Clayton twins and Brianna Lyston that established a new record of 42.58 at the 49th edition of the Carifta Games in Kingston, Jamaica. Unfortunately, that record was not ratified by World Athletics because one member of the team, Tina Clayton, was not drug tested.
However, at the World U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia in August last year, Cole, the Claytons, and Kerrica Hill ran 42.59, which was later ratified as the new world record.
With personal best in the 100m of 11.13, Cole was heading towards an epic showdown with Hydel High School’s Alana Reid at the 2023 ISSA GraceKennedy Boys and Girls Championships in March but suffered a hamstring injury while cruising to victory in her semi-final heat in 11.17.
Reid won would go to win the final in a new ‘Champs’ record of 10.92, becoming the first Jamaican high school girl to break the 11-second barrier. Reid is reportedly matriculating to the University of Oregon in the fall.
Cole is currently with the Edwin Allen team at the Penn Relays in the United States.