After competing at Carifta I feel that it showed me what I needed to work on, in order to perform at the best of my abilities. I realized that it would be the small things that had the biggest impact on my performance level going forward. Whether it be staying focused and hydrated or making sure I did my exercises and stretches that have helped me in the past.

This year was very tough mentally as I slightly injured my left heel while jumping my personal best 2.20m/7’2.5” on May 6th, in New York. It was because of a very hard indoor track and the extreme pressure that is put on the heel when jumping that caused the bruised heel. Of course this was a major setback because I jump with my left foot and now every time I exerted pressure on it, the action would cause immense pain. This injury would stop me from defending my New York state title my senior year, and I would miss out on almost a third of my season. The realization that I could not compete at the level that I knew I was capable of, and miss out on meets that I knew I could win, would take a toll on me mentally. But my season did end on a positive note. My performance had caught the attention of Sports Illustrated and I was featured in the June 7, 2017 edition, for my achievements in high school basketball and high jump.

With the help of my Coach James Rolle, I would learn that my injury was caused mostly because of my take off position being too low. I needed to be positioned in a more standing and upright position in order for the pressure to be distributed more equally across my foot. The recovery process would feature many things like icing daily, physical therapy, rest and foot reflexology treatment. Apart from treatment I worked daily with my Coach learning how to take off properly in order to prevent something like this from happening again. I would have to keep faith in God in order to recover and trust that God has plan for me and that everything happens for a reason.

Now I feel ready to take on the challenge of more competition on the world stage in Peru. This meet will prepare me for even bigger stages such as the IAAF World Junior Championships and the NCAA D1 Championships next year when I compete as an Indiana Hoosier. I see the PanAm U20 games as a necessary stepping stone to get me ready for where I want to go and what I want to accomplish.

My goal for PanAm U20 is to jump at least 2.22m/7’3.25” and win in the process. The reason I chose that height is, to break the New York state record of 2.21m/7’3” and also put me in good position to try to break the junior national record of 2.28m/7’5.75”, held by my teammate Ryan Ingraham, next year. Lastly, I would like to congratulate and extend my best wishes to the rest of the team as I perceive, God willing, all of us will be coming back with medals around our necks.