(SNO) — Commonwealth Youth Games 100m champion and Youth Olympic Games silver medallist Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia will be joining the University of Texas Longhorns women’s track and field team in 2019.
An alumna of Leon Hess Comprehensive in Saint Lucia and St. Catherine High in Jamaica, the much-sought-after Alfred holds national junior records for the 100m and 200m races.
Following her recent success at the Youth Olympics, Alfred has been heavily recruited by American colleges and universities. Since her fairly recent record-breaking days as a juvenile star under the tutelage of Cuthbert Modeste, she has caught the attention of local track and field fans and has been tipped to follow in the footsteps of the nation’s most outstanding athletes, such as high jump star, Levern Spencer.
Alfred, who will be studying to become a sports psychologist, had offers from several schools including University of Oregon, Baylor University, South Carolina, Iowa, University of Indiana, Texas Tech and the University of Texas-San Antonio but chose the Longhorns because of their programme and their coach.
“I chose Texas because I heard a lot the programme and also the coach that’s there, Coach Flo (Eldrick Floreal). I also like the track team. I like the way they do things. When I went to visit I observed that everybody gets a special attention that they need, so even though there is a large group, Coach Flo trains everybody in small groups, so everybody gets the attention that they need,” she told Sportsmax TV on Wednesday.
She also revealed that she only did two site visits, Texas-San Antonio and the University of Texas. “I don’t want to go anywhere that’s cold,” she said with a laugh.
She begins classes in January 2019.
