Unheralded Sprinter Will Live Out One Of His Dreams Competing For The U.S. This Week In China, Then Return For The Start Of His Team's High School Season

By Mary Albl of Dyestat 

Photos courtesy Bush School

SEATTLE — When professional track sprinter Emmanuel “Ray” Wells Jr. returns from the World Indoor Track Championships in China next week, he’ll have around 48 hours to recover from the nearly 20-hour flight and 16-hour time difference before making the shift to his role as Coach Ray. 

Wells, a native of Rainier Beach in Seattle, left for Nanjing, China on Monday to compete in his first World Athletics Indoor Championships in the men’s 60-meter dash. With a seed time of 6.55 seconds in the event, he’s set to run in the opening round on March 21 with the goal to advance to the semifinals and finals the next day. 

When he gets back from China, he’ll put on his coaching hat and prepare for the season-opening track meet on Thursday, March 27 as the head varsity coach at The Bush School, a K-12 independent school in Seattle.

In his second year as head coach, he added the title of the middle school track coach to his resume (they open up the season Friday, March 28). All in a day's work though for Wells, who wears the hat of one of the nation's fastest coaches. 

“There’s three words I usually coach kids on: balance, discipline and complete. And I try to maintain those everyday,” Wells said. “Whatever I do, I’m fully involved and engaged in it. When I’m Coach Ray, I’m Coach Ray. When I’m athlete Ray, I’m athlete Ray. I always try to be in the moment, right now.”

For Wells, the World Indoor Championships is his “now” moment. China will be the 27-year-old’s first international competition. He opened up his indoor season at the University of Washington Preview on Jan. 17 where he clocked an indoor world qualifying time of 6.55, breaking a meet record. It was his fastest season-opener to date and a time that is currently tied for 10th-fastest in the U.S.

Wells said he’s feeling in the best shape of his life. 

“I talk about it a lot, but this indoor season for me was significantly different than last year,” Wells said. “This year, I haven’t PR-ed but I accomplished some new features. I’ve never made a world team until now. I’ll also have the opportunity to PR in China and be in contention to make the world team outdoors and push for the Olympics.”

Wells had never been to New York City prior to the USATF Indoor Championships last month. His trip to the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island was strictly a business trip. 

“The moment I got on the plane and I got off, I had one intention and that was to make the World Indoor Championship team for Team USA,” he said. “It was a good time, a lot of it felt like a blur because I was so locked in.”

Wells ran 6.58 to win his heat in the preliminaries to qualify for the final, and then finished in third place, clocking 6.58 again.

In the absence of U.S. stars such as Noah Lyles and Christian Coleman, who opted out to focus on their goals later in the year, Wells seized a rare opportunity. 

Because Wells already had a world qualifying time and first-place finisher Ronnie Baker, a Tokyo Olympian, had a bye due to his 2020 World Indoor Tour placement, Wells made the team. From there, Wells said he immediately caught a Lyft to the hotel for processing, collected his Team USA gear, and then was on a flight back home to Seattle that evening. 

“It was a surreal moment,” Wells said. “Since I started at the age of 10 to now, that’s the moment I was waiting for and to represent Team USA.”

A state champion at Rainier Beach High in Seattle, a school known more for its NBA-level talents on the courts than track accolades, Wells made stops at Arizona Central Community College – earning NJCAA Indoor All-American honors – then found his way to Division I Washington State University where he was a 2019 NCAA Indoor All-American (15th place).

Through the COVID-19 pandemic and then an untimely torn achilles as a fifth-year senior, Wells’ collegiate career ended abruptly in the spring of 2021, halting his dreams of the U.S. Trials and the Olympics.

Wells refused to be discouraged.

“My dad always raised me that if an opportunity doesn't come knocking, build your own,” Wells said. “So I just built my own door. I was like, ‘I may not be everyone's prediction, but I'm my favorite. I may not have everyone's belief, but I believe in myself.’” 

Call Wells an underdog but never an underachiever.

Wells has always carried the mindset of self-belief and faith - something instilled with him from a young age as his dad, Emmanuel Wells Sr. was a pastor. His motto is God, Loyalty, Family (GLF) a nod to his core beliefs.

While recovering from his injury, he put on his business hat, honing in on creating an official brand for himself (GLF), which is an athletic training club and lifestyle-guidance program.

“I stopped focusing on the people that counted me out and started focusing on the people that counted me in,” said Wells, noting that his uncle is the one that helped make his GLF track jerseys. Wells is coached by three-time NFL pro bowler and national track champion Eric Metcalf, who he also credits for his success and progress.

While working the business side, and still in active recovery from his Achilles injury, Wells was also coaching.

As a big believer in leading by example, he said he found himself demonstrating the drills and mechanics of the sport to younger athletes and started to get the itch to start training for his own races. Working daily with the student-athletes, Wells explained, is what keeps him accountable. 

“I wear it with a badge of honor,” Well said of being a head coach. “I’m doing what I love, which is coaching and giving back to the youth and running. It means everything to me, because I am telling the kids what to do and I don't want to be a hypocrite. I always tell the kids, coach has done this, is doing this, or going to do this. Everything I'm telling you to do I'm going to do myself.”

In 2024 he started coaching at Bush. In his first year last spring, he helped guide the boys team to seventh place in Washington's Class 1A standings.

Duncan Frisbee-Smith, a senior, who will attend Brown this coming fall, captured the 3,200-meter state title and was second in the 1,600. In the sprints, Wells had sprinter Barack Abdallah, a senior this year, place third in the 100 (11.00) running a personal-best. He also finished seventh in the 200 (23.11). Teammate Xander Timmons finished fifth in the 110 hurdles (15.46), a PR.

“We had a great year,” Wells said. “Last year I feel like it was an introduction to building the culture and standard  here at Bush.”

Wells preaches consistency, effort, and making sure the student-athletes are finding  joy in what they do. He says he doesn’t expect 100 percent focus and commitment all of the time, rather showing up each day and giving everything you have that day - even if you’re just feeling 60 percent, give all 60 percent. 

“Ray strikes a great balance between emphasizing effort, focus, and discipline while being a positive, supportive presence in our athletes’ lives,” Bush athletic director Jo Ito said. “We are fortunate to have a coach who brings the perspective of a professional athlete, inspires through his own performances, and embraces the sports culture at our school — blending both seamlessly. The track team, along with the rest of our school community, can’t wait to see how he performs at the upcoming 2025 World Indoor Track and Field Championships!” 

Racing well in China, Wells hopes, is a stepping stone to a successful outdoor season. If he can continue to build his status as a sprinter, an even bigger goal would be to compete for a spot at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Last year, he barely missed qualifying for the U.S. Trials. 

This week, in an all-new environment, Wells will try to make the best of every moment. 

It's the same way he goes through life in Seattle, coaching, working at his business, and training.

“I don't like being put in a box. I’m not just a track athlete,” Well said. “I feel so blessed to be in this position, highly chosen and favored and I'm having so much fun. It's not work. Everyday is Christmas to me and I'm ready to attack it.”