Shamali Whittle of Nottingham, a world leading U18 sprinter at No. 3 for 2021 times, announces top 5 colleges
TRENTON, N.J. (BVM) — Shamali Whittle, a rising senior of Nottingham High School, is ranked at No. 45 on the leaderboard for fastest U18 200-meter times in world history (20.73). For the 2021 recorded times alone, the now 17-year-old (today is his birthday) is ranked at No. 3 in the world.
This afternoon, Whittle took to Twitter to announce the top five schools in his track and field commitment radar. He narrowed a list of full-scholarship DI offers down to the Florida Gators, Clemson Tigers, Miami Hurricanes, Texas Longhorns and Florida State Seminoles. A handful of home visits were made that did not make the list, including the Michigan Wolverines, Syracuse Orange and Auburn Tigers.
first thank you to God then to the coaches who have recruited me.. that being said my top 5 IN NO ORDER is U of Florida, Clemson, U of Miami, U of Texas, & Florida State 🔥💪🏽 where should I go ? 👀😈 #SEC #ACC #Big12 @PatLanniHS @lambo2126 @Dylan_Manfre11 @kj_franko @zaakirah232 pic.twitter.com/t7kS2FvMrj
— King Mali🏆 (@ShamaliWhittle) August 3, 2021
“I’m looking for a coach that’s willing to be 100% honest with me all the time and just a team with highly competitive athletes,” Whittle said. “I’m not leaning towards any one in my top five just yet. I’m waiting to get a better understanding after I start to go on official visits in September.”
Whittle noted that he’ll announce his No. 1 pick in November — before the start of his senior season — so that he can put full-focus into another record-breaking season.
This past season, Whittle won gold medals in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes at the 2021 New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association State Meet Of Champions. For the season in general, he ran a personal record of 10.48 seconds in the 100m and an even faster time of 20.73 in the 200m. In comparison, Whittle is so fast for his age in the 200m, that he’s running a little over half a second from Usain Bolt’s U18 record.
“My goal this upcoming season is to continue to climb up that world-record leaderboard,” Whittle said. “For me to get into the 20 point range is so crazy. I’m almost at the level I want to be. I don’t think I have the greatest start, but that’s okay. My strongest part of the race kicks in after the first 50 meters. I can decelerate the slowest in track, so I don’t get as tired.”
Already New Jersey’s current fastest sprinter, Whittle also broke a 20-year-old record when he broke the high school state record for fastest 200m with a 20.75 in wind-legal conditions last month. A week later, he was named as the Gatorade New Jersey Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year.
“When I started school at Nottingham, I said I wanted to become the greatest athlete there,” Whittle said. “So to be the first in school history to get that award made me feel like I’m heading in the right direction with that goal.”
Whittle has dozens of more races that’ll help enshrine him into more school history.
“I want to break the state records for the races I do that I don’t have records in yet, like the 100-meter and 100-hurdles,” Whittle said. “For indoor, I’m going for the 200m, 55-meter and 55-hurdles records. This upcoming season, I want to get a national title more than anything.”
At Outdoor Nationals 2021, Whittle took fourth in the 200m with a clocked time of 20.73, which placed him .24 seconds behind first place.
He’s looking for the No. 1 spot next season and believes it’s possible with more training opportunities. When most schools were going back to practice more frequently during the pandemic, Whittle said his team was still missing out on a lot of opportunities to train. So there’s no telling how much faster Whittle will get over the next year, especially as he aims to get close to Bolt’s U18 record.
“I have a mask signed by Usain,” Whittle said. “He’s a huge inspiration to me. I’ve watched a lot of track races in person at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, but my biggest dream is to run in the Olympics myself. But, it all depends on what happens in college.”
Whatever happens in college, he knows that this path was the one he needed to take. Standing tall as a sprinter at 6-foot-2, he notes that he always wanted to play for the New York Knicks, but started running at 9 years old because his peers told him he had potential.
“I was getting beat left and right actually, so it was not a great experience,” Whittle said. “But, I kept doing it for fun. You just have to focus on yourself and your own goals and don’t be focused on others running faster times than you.”
Ironically enough, it’s now Whittle who is running faster times than his peers. Most recognizable for his speed, Whittle also stands out for his appearance at meets.
“When I was a freshman, two of my teammates made a competition to see who could gather the most bracelets,” Whittle said. “Now I have dozens of them I put on both arms … I’m literally competitive at everything I do in life. I don’t even take them off. They are just random bracelets that refer to PlayStation, the Among Us game and really just some that refer to random things. But, it’s a good luck thing. I feel like if I take them off, I’ll have bad luck in the race.”
Hopefully, Whittle won’t leave those bracelets behind as he enters his senior season and heads off to run for one of the top track and field programs of his choosing.
