Nottingham star Whittle injured in 100 victory

ROBBINSVILLE » About three quarters of the way down the track the look on Shamali Whittle’s face said it all.

Nottingham star senior sprinter grimaced and grabbed at his left hip flexor as he crossed the finish line.

Whittle still ran a Mercer County Tournament-winning time of 10.82 in the 100 meters on Friday afternoon at

Robbinsville High, but was in clear discomfort.

The University of Georgia commit was checked out by the athletic trainer after the race and then walked gingerly back across the infield with the help of coach Bernice Mitchell.

He won’t run in Saturday’s Day 2 of the MCT Meet, and if he is unable to return for the sectional meet on June 3, that would rule him out for Groups and the Meet of Champions where he is the defending champ in the 100 and 200.

Whittle has already posted the fastest 200 this year in the state when he went 20.55 at the CVC Showdown on May 10 and the fourth quickest 100 (10.64).

He’s had some tough luck throughout his career, missing the MoC as a freshman due to injury and then losing his entire sophomore year because of the coronavirus pandemic. He rebounded to do the sprint double as a junior, but even that wasn’t without a bizarre twist when he was disqualified from the 110m hurdles due to an administrative error.

“The kid has had some bad luck,” said Nottingham athletic director Jon Adams. “When people mention the greatest ever, I better hear his name.”

Even if Whittle were to miss the big meets on the New Jersey calendar, he could return and run at the New Balance High School Meet on June 18 at Franklin Field, which is the same day as the MoC.