Alumni News
In the Spotlight!! - Dennis Mowatt
It’s the 1991 Tokyo World International Athletics Championship. And in several living rooms of former team mates of Dennis Mowatt:
See de team dey! You see de flag? The Jamaican Flag! So whey him dey? Wait no man! See im dey. Dennis, Dennis……. A my Bwoy dat!!! You know sey me an him use to run together? Yes, yes, it is de tenth time me tell you today. But is true. Me even beat him one time. No…., me nuh have no proof. Bwoy I feel good. Tears a come a mi eye. Dennis, you mek it…….you mek it… You Big!!!!!
Throw out de garbage?? You can ask me fi throw out the garbage now??? Woman, you mad, Dennis de pan de TV!!!!Him dey a de World Championships!!!!!!
Yes indeed. This is Dennis Mowatt. Arguably the most successful, the best and most gifted athlete to grace the College in the 80’s.
Follow me down memory lane, while I chronicle the legacy of this KC Icon.
Dennis Mowatt aka, Cool Cat
Dennis running form was so pure and smooth; you will think he had no speed, if not for the other 7 guys struggling to keep up with him. The first time he ran the 3rd leg in Class 3, his team mate, having given him a sizeable lead, was heard to shout: Run Dennis, Run!!! No bada come dash wey we gold medal!!! With the teammate’s eye trained solely on Dennis, what he didn’t notice was that Dennis was putting a further 10 meters on the field! The bend at the stadium was later renamed The Mowatt AutoHaus (German Highway, where cars travel up to 200KM/hr)
Dennis Mowatt; Flying Under the Radar
Dennis was never the star!!!! He never won in Class 3 and never won in Class 2. KC was so blessed with sprint talent at that time that, despite him winning double silver medals (100M & 200M) and relay gold in his Boys Champs Class 3 debut, only Dwight, his equally illustrious brother (represented KC in cricket) and his family noticed him!
He was just as successful in Class 2. But the KC fans never really took notice. Notice of what? Probably the Tsunami brewing out at see….
Dennis Mowatt; The KC Dream
The howling 3pm breeze has started to settle. 30,000 flags are waving like crazy. All the bets are in – even cars are on the block. The drums and horns are blasting. Jamaica pauses as the rest of the island tune in to their TVs.
The 8 athletes are busy checking their starting blocks. CBAR, CDOWN, STETHS, JAGO, KC, WOLMERS, CC are the chants. The 30,000 is in a frenzy.
This is the 1989 Boys Championship of Jamaica.
This is the Marquee Event.
This is the Boy’s Class 1 100M Finals.
The winner of this event is the fastest school boy in Jamaica – and by extension, one of the fastest in the World.
The excitement is now fever pitch – some of the 30,000 have already passed out – the heat from the sun; the pushing of the crowds; too much beer; too much Jankro ……
The 8 athletes are stripping their sweats off.
The late Great Lennox Miller, may his soul rest in peace, was the last KC athlete to win the marquee event, way back in the 60’s. Many KC athletes have emerged in Classes 3 & 2 since then, with the potential to duplicate this feat.
None succeeded. Staying the course through Classes 3 & 2 for an athlete with super potential is not easy. The heavy work load year in year out. The inevitable injuries. The other distractions that beset these “superstars”. Dennis weathered it all.
And now the starter instructs him and the other 7 athletes. ON YOUR MARKS!
A hush hits the stadium…
Can he do it? After over 20 years of waiting. Will Dennis finally win it for Us?
The gun echoes, the camera flashes go off, and HISTORY UNFOLDS….
The race
Whew. What a race! But although nothing else mattered after the RACE of the century (for we KC boys), Dennis returned that very night to capture the 200M gold – he could do no wrong.
Dennis Mowatt; the Hot Rod 11 year old
Jimmy Grant, the then KC coach, and a very good one at that, with an eye for talent; have now met the family for the 3rd time. Dennis Mom is so impressed with this flashy BMW driving guy that she contemplates inviting him over for Sunday dinner
Dennis had a few months prior to the Jimmy visits, destroyed all comers at the Primary School Championships, winning the 100M, 200M and 400M. Jimmy Grant was not the only coach in the stadium that day salivating at the prospects of having this speed demon in their camp.
Dennis solved everybody’s problem, by passing his Common Entrance Exam for KC.
When Jimmy Grant started to drive his prize possession in for training and paying him special attention, one of Dennis’s future teammates was heard to say: What’s up with Jimmy and this bwoy. Jimmy nuh think sey we just as wicked as him. Wait, me ago fix him business!
Dennis Mowatt; The Rabalac Mystery??
There is a Dennis Mowatt currently attending Calabar. He is 16 years old and stands at 6’ 3”. What’s wrong with this picture?
We can take heart in the fact that Dennis’s son has been so disappointed with his Red Hills Road incarceration that he has opted not to step on the track. God bless him!
Dennis Mowatt; The KC Ambassador
Junior Representative
At the National level Dennis represented Jamaica at the 1987 World Junior Championship in Sudbury Canada. He was a perennial show at the Carifta Championships, The CAC (Central American and Caribbean) Championships and the Penn Relays. WOW…
Senior Representative
Of course, the pinnacle of Dennis’s career was representing Jamaica (and KCJ) at the 1991 Tokyo and 1997 Greece World Championships.
Dennis’s 400 relay team missed the medal podium in Tokyo, finishing fourth. Needless to say, his ex-teammates and subsequent potato couch fans, nestled in their living rooms were more devastated than him.
The Pan Am Games, the Central American and Caribbean Championships were other international meets where Dennis donned the Black, Green & Gold.
He had his best finish at the Jamaica National Trials in 1997, finishing 2nd in the 100M.
Dennis also participated on the European Grand Prix Circuit – competing all over Europe for lucrative cash purses – Yes, Dennis earned a buck or two – it wasn’t all charity.
The Scholarships
Dennis opted to attend Blinn College on completion of his illustrious career with KC. And, as was the case at age 11, he had many suitors with scholarship offers. He represented Blinn College (NJCAA) between 1990 and 1992 and was very successful – winning silver in the 100M and gold in the relay at the NJCAA US Nationals in his first year. He stepped it up a notch in his second year, winning gold in the 200M.
Dennis subsequently moved to the elite Texas Christian University (TCU), a school renowned for its track prowess in the US collegiate circles. Needless to say, TCU also wears the colour Purple!
Dennis Mowatt; The laid back Texan
“I can’t remember all of the games I competed in for Jamaica, maybe you guys know more. Anyway my days at K.C. were the best because of you guys”: Dennis’s recent comment, when he hooked up with some old buddies over a few pints and watching his favorite horses.
Dennis now resides in Texas, and is believed to be living beside a race track. Yes, he had his one vice !
It is said, but not proven, that one year, many of his fans turned up at the Jamaica National Trials on a Saturday afternoon to see Dennis compete in the 200M. Dennis who had already made the National Team the previous night via the 100M inadvertently turned up at another Track and as such missed the opportunity to perform for his devoted fans
Dennis Mowatt; His Legacy
Dennis emerged during the “very lean period of the 80’s” when KC track & field fans did not have much to hang their hats on. His performance for KC in the late 80’s and as an ambassador for KC in the 90’s, inspired the next generation of KC coaches and athletes. The current track & field coaches that have been performing their wizardry since the turn of the century were his teammates and coaches back in the 80’s. These now inspired coaches have left no stones unturned when telling the current crop of KC Mega Super Star Athletes, the stories of their hero, Dennis Mowatt, back in the “Good Ole Days” of the 80’s.