Ameilia Gillispie and Jonathon Fredrick are part of the Cayman Islands national team that will complete at the CAC Junior Championships in El Salvador, starting tomorrow (Thursday, 27 June).

Gillispie earned her qualification at the BayTAF meet in Tampa Florida recently, becoming the first female heptathlete in these Islands to qualify internationally for the Girls U-18 heptathlon. The events in the heptathlon are: 100m hurdles, 200m, 800m, Shot Put, Javelin, High Jump and Long Jump. Frederick will be representing the Cayman Islands in the U-18 Discus.

Hon. Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, Deputy Premier and Minister responsible for District Administration and Sister Islands Sports praised the two Brac athletes for making up the Cayman Islands National Athletic Team.

“Hard work and dedication to any task will reap dividends when people have the support they need. I am pleased and proud that our Brac athletes have qualified to represent the Cayman Islands on an international level. This is all part of nation-building and it goes to show that once the necessary programmes are in place, Brac athletes can do their part to make our islands proud,” Ms. O’Connor-Connolly stated.

Gillispie and Frederick are experienced at the international level. Gillispie competed in the Junior Worlds in France last year and both have participated in the CARIFTA Games on several occasions. In 2009 Frederick earned a silver medal at the Caribbean Union of Teachers track meet.

Cayman Brac Sports Coordinator Harold Sanford said:  “I’m extremely proud of the achievements of these two athletes. Both have been working very hard and have put in the training time and effort. I thank the Ministry of DAWL&A for their commitment to athletic development in the Sister Islands.”