By BVI Athletics Association
BVIAA Colonial Insurance (BVI) Ltd 2018 Athletes of the Year. Photo: BVIAA
The British Virgin Islands Athletics Association is pleased to officially announce the 2018 Colonial Insurance (BVI) Ltd. Athletes Of The Year awards in each of its categories:
Kyron McMaster and Chantel Malone have been named BVIAA Colonial Insurance (BVI) Ltd. Senior Male and Female Athletes of the Year.
Kyron McMaster, ranked No. 3 in the world in 2018 in the men’s 400-meter hurdles is the two-times Diamond League Champion of 2017 and 2018. He is a three-times 2018 Gold medalist in the 400m Hurdles having won at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, the Central and American and Caribbean Games (CAC) in Barranquilla, Colombia and the North American and Caribbean Championships (NACAC) in Toronto, Canada. McMaster’s personal best of 47.54 seconds achieved at the Paris Diamond League in June 2018 highlights his huge accomplishments.
Chantel Malone, the territory’s first IAAF World Championships finalist finishing 7th in the women’s long jump in 2017 was ranked top 100 in the world in 2018 in the women’s long jump. Malone’s 2018 achievements include placing 5th at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, a silver medalist at the Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC) with a leap of 6.52m, and a 5th place in the women’s long jump at the 2018 North American and Caribbean Championships in Toronto, Canada.
Rikkoi Brathwaite and Beyonce Defreitas have been named BVIAA Colonial Insurance (BVI) Ltd. Junior Male and Female of the Year.
Brathwaite is the Jr. National Record Holder in the 100m dash. During 2018, he placed 3rd in the 100m at the Flow Carifta Games in Bahamas as well as competing at the IAAF World Under 20 Championships in Tampere, Finland where he advanced to the 100m semi-finals with a time of 10.44 seconds.
DeFreitas, 2017 silver medalist at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Bahamas in the 200m sprint, began 2018 with astonishing times which qualified her for the Flow Carifta Games, the IAAF World Under 20 Championships and the Youth Olympic Games. She is one of the few in the OECS to run under 24 seconds in the 200m at the age of 15 and is a national leader in her division. She has remained unbeaten in local competition since the age of 13.
Jaleel Croal and Adaejah Hodge have been named BVIAA Colonial Insurance (BVI) Ltd. Youth Male and Female Athletes of the Year for 2018.
Croal, coming off strong performance among peers in the Heptathlon at the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Age Group Championships held in Trinidad and Tobago in June 2017, ended 2018 as the national top 100m and 200m leader in his U15 age division. He qualified for the Flow Carifta Games in both the 100m and 200m and as a first time competitor, he placed 6th in the 100m finals at Carifta.
In 2018, Hodge ran a time of 12.34 seconds in 100m. She broke the 26 year old record (24.47 August 1st, 1992) with a time of 24.37 seconds in the 200m in her Under 13 age division at the Jr. Olympics in the USA. Hodge was honoured as the top female athlete at both the Wildcat Invitational meet and Mustang Stampede meet in Douglasville, GA. She also set 60m and 200m indoors with times of 7.88 seconds and 25.53 seconds respectively at the Birmingham Alabama Cross Plex meet during the season. Her personal best in other events includes 56.79 second in the 400m and 17 feet 12 inches in the long jump amongst her other highlighted accomplishments as an Under 13 athlete.
The BVIAA Executive and the BVI athletics family extend congratulations to all the athletes.
