Some of Barbados’ top junior athletes have begun new chapters in their careers at colleges and universities in the United States.
Among them are Freedom Striders duo Ariel Jackson and Shani Adams who are at Iowa Central Community College and Wayland Baptist University, respectively.
Also on scholarship are the Rising Stars pair of Dario Scantlebury and Jerrad Mason. Scantlebury is at the University of New Orleans and Mason, the University of Missouri.
Another Rising Stars athlete, Rhys Phillips (The Lester Vaughan School/Combermere) is at Baylor University, Texas, while clubmate Kenrisha Brathwaite (The Lester Vaughan School) has completed her two years at Vincennes University and transferred to South Carolina University.
Both represented Barbados at the CARIFTA Games.
Jackson, a former student of Graydon Sealy Secondary School (formerly Garrison), will be pursuing studies in culinary arts at Iowa Central. She represented Barbados at the 2012 and 2013 CARIFTA Games, winning two silver medals in both relays this year.
The sprinter was one of several juniors who also qualified for this year’s Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Senior Championships as well as the Pan American Junior Championships.
In her journey from Coleridge and Parry to Combermere School, Adams represented Barbados at the 2009, 2010 and 2012 CARIFTA Games as a hurdler and half-miler.
She was also a regular figure in distance events, competing in the Run Barbados Series and other road races. She also set several records at Inter-School Sports.
Mason, a Harrisonian, made his CARIFTA debut as a 13-year-old back in 2009 where he took bronze in the 800m and won gold the following year. He is also a multiple CAC Juniors medallist and has also competed at the Commonwealth Youth Games; Pan American Juniors and the World Youth Championships.
Scantlebury, who like Mason made a name as a youngster in the primary school championships before going on to Queen’s College, won CARIFTA gold in the 400m hurdles in 2011 and a bronze in 2010.
He also attended the 2012 CAC Juniors in El Salvador and won a bronze medal at the 2010 edition in the Dominican Republic. (SAT)
