In an interview with Chris Shim from Dartmouth Sports, titled Justin Donawa ’19 finds success on the pitch and the track, Donawa credits Bermuda coaches Cal Symonds and Brian Wellman among thus who have influenced his career.
Donawa ’19 began his collegiate athletic career with a bang. On a cool October night at Burnham Field in Hanover, the Dartmouth men’s soccer team was locked in a nail-biter against Ivy League rival Columbia University. Midway through the first half, Donawa made his second career appearance as a substitute, and in the 42nd minute, fired a bullet from 40 yards out that landed in the bottom back right corner of the net. In celebration, Donawa ran over to the sideline, exuberantly punching the air as he was mobbed by his teammates.
When asked about the goal in an interview with Dartmouth Sports, Donawa shrugged off the feat.
“Only being my second game back, I was just looking to make an impact as soon as I came on the field,” he said of the goal. “I actually underestimated how far out it was and just said ‘let me take a shot,’ and caught the keeper off guard.”
“It’s rare that we get a guy like Justin, who’s competed [at the international level], to come to Dartmouth,” said Tim Wunderlich, who coaches jumps and multis events for the Dartmouth track and field teams.
Donawa has been playing soccer and competing in track for as long as he can remember. His father, Jay Donawa, described playing soccer as a rite of passage for every kid in Bermuda.
“It was just a natural progression to enroll him in the pee wee program at our local football club,” Jay Donawa said. “He excelled as he raised through the age group ranks.”
His aptitude for track and field also emerged early on. Every year, his elementary school would host a track and field sports day, in which young students were encouraged to try out different track and field events. Jay Donawa pointed out that Justin was named “champion boy” each year he participated, the equivalent to the event’s Most Valuable Player. Not long after, at eight years old, Donawa joined the Bermuda Pacers Track Club, where his father also competed as a kid.
Indeed, Donawa has benefited from the guidance of his parents, both of whom were athletic stars in their day. Jay Donawa starred for Bermuda in many international distance running races, including in the marathon and in cross country. Justin’s mother, Keena Donawa, was a jumper and sprinter in her high school days as well.
“[Justin] often reaches out to me for advice when it comes to his track and field ambitions,” she said.
He began his track career mainly as a sprinter, running the 100- and 200-meter dashes and competing in the long jump. But, when “my coach saw my friend and I playing around in the triple jump, just joking around about it, he told me to try it,” Donawa said. And it stuck.
Chad Riley, head coach for the men’s soccer team, first saw Donawa play when he was a sophomore, when Dartmouth was actually scouting an older player on his team. But they left impressed with Donawa.
“From what we saw that day we knew we would want to continue to track Justin’s progress,” Riley said.
“It’s pretty busy, but it’s manageable,” Donawa said of his schedule. “Most of my time is devoted to soccer, even though triple jump is a more technical event.”
Donawa also credits his years of work with his track coach at the Bermuda Pacers, Calvin Simons, and his triple jump coach Brian Wellman, who placed first in the 1995 World Indoor Championships in the triple jump. It is as a result of this foundation that, as Wunderlich points out, Donawa doesn’t need too much triple jump-specific work.
“Justin is very good technically, and he’s already pretty strong and fast from soccer,” Wunderlich said. “For me, it’s all about progressing him in the event and getting him to jump far as the season goes.”
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