written from sourced news
First published by Caribbean Life News Author Nelson King
Vincentian track star Brandon Valentine-Parris says he’s very proud of setting a new national and Emory Crossplex Invitational record last month.
“It’s a good accomplishment for any individual to leave home and venture out to school [in the United States] and actually go out there and perform well,” said the Sion Hill native, who was among the first athletes to represent the Thomas Saunders Secondary School (TSSS) in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in its initial bid in the prestigious Penn Relays at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in 2011.
Valentine-Parris also represented TSSS at the Penn Relays a year later. The nation’s participation in the Penn Relays is coordinated by James Cordice, a former president of the Philadelphia-based St. Vincent and the Grenadines Organization of Pennsylvania (SVGOP).
“For me, it’s heart-warming to know that my hard work is paying off,” added Valentine-Parris, whose long trek to athletic stardom began in 2008, when he participated, for the first time, in the national junior championship at the Arnos Vale playing field in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. “I ‘m just happy to know that I’m performing well and injury free.”
Claflin University, a historically Black institution, said its athletic team, Claflin Panthers, had “an overall good meet [at the Emory Crossplex Invitational], as the 4×100 meter relay team, consisting of Nicholas Williams, Valentine-Parris, Daniel Montgomery and You’shi Kirkland, set the meet and school record with a time of 3:16.47.”
Valentine-Parris, St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ National Under 14 Male Champ and the 2008 St. Vincent ant the Grenadines National Under 15 Male Champ, said his primary goal is to become a professional athlete, while excelling academically.
With only his second year at Claflin University and on an athletic scholarship, Valentine-Parris, who is majoring in Sports Management and Business Administration, and wants to become an athletics director, has been on the Dean’s List for the second successive semester.
