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Ray Ray Wells heads to Albuquerque with a real shot to make Team USA in the 60m this weekend...


To truly appreciate what Rainier Beach HS and Washington State University grad Emmanuel "Ray Ray" Wells (Keith Webber/Spokane Sports photo) has endured over the last few years, one has to go back to The Dual meet between the University of Washington and Washington State University on April 21, 2021.

On a picture perfect Seattle afternoon, Wells, who qualified for the NCAA indoor championships the year before and was ready to go in Albuquerque before the NCAA cancelled the meet due to the COVID 19 pandemic, got out to his usual fast start against the Huskies when he crumpled to the purple track.

Hours after the race, he announced on X (formerly Twitter) that he tore his left Achilles tendon in the race, and would be out for the rest of the season.


Rather than engaging in self-pity, Wells worked on his rehab to make himself better than he was before the injury, and documented his journey on his Instagram page


Wells began walking two weeks after surgery and started running and jogging almost three months later.

Wells returned to racing on January 14, 2023, announcing his return with a win at the UW Indoor Preview. He raced three more times in the indoor season, all in Albuquerque, finishing sixth at the Martin Luther King Invitational on January 21st, then taking second in his heat at the Don Kirby Invitational on February 11th.

He then advanced to the semifinals at the USA Indoor Championships a week later, running 6.72 twice.

In his one outdoor race last year, he ran 10.46 at the Oregon Preview on March 18th, before shutting it down for the season, as he had some issues with his other Achilles tendon caused from compensating on the surgically repaired Achilles injured in 2021.

In three meets this indoor season, he won all three, running 6.63 for 60 meters at the UW Indoor Preview, 6.59 at the UW Invitational, and in a race that made people notice, he won the Riverfront Invitational in Spokane on February 1st, running a personal best 6.48, which at the time, tied for the fastest time in the world.


Before leaving for Friday and Saturday's USA Track & Field Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, where he will face the likes of among others, Noah Lyles and Christian Coleman, we had an opportunity to watch a few training sessions with his coach Eric Metcalf, and talk to the world's fourth fastest human this indoor season.

Wells has a legitimate shot to make the world indoor championship team that competes in Glasgow, Scotland next month.

WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HOW YOU'RE TRAINING NOW AND WHAT YOU WERE DOING AT WSU AND CENTRAL ARIZONA (after graduating from Rainier Beach, he ran for two years at Central Arizona, qualifying for the NCJAA championships indoors and outdoors, with his best performance an eighth place finish in the 60 in 2018)?

The biggest difference is that's it's only me and coach E. He's a lot more hands on than what it was at WSU and Central. I was the top athlete at both places and got a lot of attention, but coach E understands things down to a T. Me and him coexist because we are the same as coach and athlete.

For example, if there's 10 seconds left before it's time to run and I'm ready to go, he'll say, 'No'. He coaches based on the adjustments that needs to happen. He's an iconic coach, and I'm an exceptional athlete. That's why I consider us the 'Dynamic Duo'. We're literally one and the same.

It's the belief that he has in his coaching and in me, and the belief I have in me and my athleticism. You take those two together, and you see what we've created this year.

When Metcalf was asked the same question, the former University of Texas NCAA long jump champion and NFL running back before becoming a successful coach at the club level and at the University of Washington replied, "the biggest difference is that he doesn't have to race every weekend like in college. We can pick and choose when to race and when to go hard or easy in training."

AFTER COMING BACK FROM ACHILLES SURGERY, YOU DIDN'T RUN MUCH IN 2023 OTHER THAN A FEW INDOOR RACES AND ONE OUTDOOR RACE. DID YOU GET HURT AGAIN?

What a lot of people didn't know was that the Achilles that was bothering me wasn't the one I tore in 2021. It was from compensating for the original injury. Coach E said that it was a mental block that I needed to get over.  I started to concentrate more on my rehab, and getting both my body and my mind all the way right. I needed to make sure that my body was right for this year and beyond.

WHAT'S THE EFFECT THAT ERIC METCALF HAS HAD ON YOU AS AN ATHLETE AND AS A PERSON?

Wells with coach Eric Metcalf (Paul Merca photo)

My dad (Ray Wells) and Eric grew up together. When he had Seatown Express, he only coached high school, college and pros and maybe an eighth grader or two before going into high school. I was one of the very first guys he coached from a very young age.

My dad had to inform me who my coach was. 'He's an all-time NFL legend. I had to Google him and check out his highlights. Ever since then, I've had the utmost respect for him. When I played football at Rainier Beach, there was one specific move of his that I used to score touchdowns with (check out the move at about the 43 second mark of the video, where he swings his arm and the ball wide).

We've always been connected from elementary, middle and high school. He almost became my college coach, but that didn't work out. It's come full circle with him coaching me as a pro and training at Rainier Beach High School. 

Eric's coached folks like Mike Berry and Marcus Chambers (both NCAA scorers at Oregon; Berry won a world championship relay gold medal running on the USA 4x400 team in Daegu), who were long sprinters, but I asked him if he'd ever coached a pure sprinter, and he said 'yeah, I've coached a few'.

TALK ABOUT GLF... SINCE YOU DON'T HAVE A PRO SPONSORSHIP DEAL, YOU'VE BEEN WEARING GLF BRANDED APPAREL.

God, Loyalty & Family (Paul Merca photo)

GLF is something I've been hash tagging and repping since 2015 when I was at Rainier Beach. I have photos on all my social media outlets, have worn chains, had it on my spikes, etc.

I studied some of the independent moguls like Nipsey Hussle, Jay-Z, and 50 Cent and told myself that there's no excuse to not be successful because I don't have a shoe sponsor, so I just had to figure it out for myself. I made my own sweatsuits, my own uniforms. I turned it into my own brand, my own LLC.

I have my own organization where I train kids Monday through Friday, and many of them wear my gear. I made my own brand because I don't have a sponsor. I made it to stand for something (God, Loyalty & Family).

I have it tattooed on my skin, I have on my shirt, my backpack, everywhere. There are folks around the country who have GLF tattoos, and have responded positively to the movement. It's bigger than just a sponsorship. It's something I've created.

Because the brand's gotten so big, the website is currently under construction. You can find information on GLF on my personal Instagram page.
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Wells races in the first round at 1:20 Pacific time Saturday in the first of three preliminary heats. The top two in each preliminary heat plus two time qualifiers run in the finals at 2:56 pm Pacific for a spot in the world championships in Glasgow. NBC Sports and Peacock will televise the indoor nationals starting at 1:00 pm Pacific time.

NOTE: Spokane Sports, RunnerSpace.com and the sports information office of Washington State University contributed to this report.

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