Dominican sprinter sets sights on something special at Champs
Kerelle Etienne, a 15-year-old sprinter from Dominica, was one of the stars of last Saturday's Pure Water/JC/R . 'Danny' Williams Development Track and Field meet at the Ashenheim Stadium on Old Hope Road.
Etienne, who attends Edwin Allen High, won her heat of the Class Three girls' 100 metres in a personal best 11.70 seconds. Her winning time was also a meet record.
Etienne came out ahead of some quality athletes which included last year's ISSA Boys and Girls' Athletics Championships (Champs) Class Three silver medallist Natriece East of Wolmer's Girls who was second overall in 11.79 and Immaculate Conception High's Kayla Johnson, the 2023 Class Four champion who was third overall in 11.94.
After hearing her time, a very excited Etienne was seen jumping for joy after her achievement.
"I am very proud of myself to know that I won my first race competing in Jamaica and doing a personal best, I am even happier," she said.
The Dominican sprinter is very confident of doing something very special in the event at Champs in March.
"I push myself in training and today this is the result I got for it. This has motivated me going forward and I am confident of doing great at Champ," she said.
She stated that the training in Jamaica is more difficult than back home but she is adapting well.
"The training here in Jamaica is much harder than in my country but I am coping well with it as I really want to make my friends and family proud back home," said Etienne, who stated that it was the first time she was competing on a synthetic track ."It feels so good competing on this type of track as all our competition back home is done on grass," she shared.
Eitienne had been looking forward to attending Edwin Allen for a long time.
"Edwin Allen High has been my dream school in Jamaica. I kept in touch with their performances on YouTube and I am really happy to be a member of the team now," she said.