Samantha Scarlett with her winning trophy at the State Championships. - Contributed

Jamaican-born teenage athlete, Samantha Scarlett, is making quite a name for herself on the high school circuit in the United States.

In just one year in high school in the United States, the 16 year-old, former St Jago High sprint hurdler is making quite an impact at the high school level in the hurdles. Last weekend, she was crowned State high school champion of Virginia in the 55 metres hurdles after winning the event in 8.09 seconds. This was after clocking a stadium record 7.99 seconds to be joint fourth in the nation. Only five athletes nation-wide have gone under eight seconds, with Mado-layne Smith of Saratoga Spring, New York being the leader with 7.90 seconds.

difficulty adjusting

Scarlett, the Class Three, 80 metres hurdles silver medalist for St Jago High at the ISSA Boys' and Girls' Championships in 2008, migrated to the United States in October of that same year to Bethel High School in Hampton, Virginia.

She had some difficulty in the beginning adjusting to her new environment, especially the cold weather.

"For me, the biggest transition was practising in the cold and also preparing indoors for the 55 metres hurdles on a track with its curve and fast pace. It was very hard for me at the beginning," said Scarlett.

In Jamaica, athletes do not compete over high hurdles until they are in Class One, but Scarlett, 15 years old at the time, had to practice over the high hurdles.

"It was really difficult for me as, in addition to starting training later than the other members of the team, I had an injury in December and this affected me at the start of the indoor competition in January. I was therefore not able to do my best. And to make matters worse, I fell at the regional meet and did not make it to the State Champion-ships. I felt like giving up," said Scarlett.

Not making it to State champs could have been a blessing in disguise for the young hurdler as, while her teammates were preparing for that meet along with the Nike national, she started her preparation for the outdoor season.

"I had mixed feelings as, with the outdoor season coming up, I was a bit more excited as I knew that I was preparing for the longer hurdles event which I had done once in Jamaica when I competed at the Carifta Trials, in March 2008," she continued.

Indeed, it was a big turnaround for Scarlett as she moved from strength to strength outdoors, finishing second at both the District, Regional and State Championships.

"My best performance was at State where I moved my personal best from 14.40 seconds down to 14.00 seconds", she continued.

big upset

In the 100m hurdles at the State Championships and competing against athletes three and four years older, Scarlett almost pulled off a big upset. She lost the final by one hundredth of a second to the overwhelming favourite, Taylor Wheaton who is now attending George Mason University on a track and field scholarship.

Scarlett, who competed at last year's World Youth Trials in Jamaica last June had a big disappointment in the finals. She had a commanding lead and after looking an easy winner she clipped hurdles seven and eight, lost her momentum and placed third.

"My preliminary race was really easy, too easy. I was very nervous for the final, I kind of felt as if I had won the race already. However, I hit the hurdle and the race was over. I started crying as I was really depressed but that day taught me to never lose focus until the race is over," said Scarlett.

Scarlett is now looking forward to the remainder of the high school season as she hopes to build on her recent success.

"I am looking forward to the Nike National in Boston in the second week of March, as most of the top high school hurdlers in the United States will be present and I am hoping to improve my personal best and my ranking," she said.

She is hoping to do even better outdoors, with an eye on the World Junior Championships and World Youth Olympic Games, and competing in the colours of Jamaica.

Many scouts from the top universities have been showing interest in Scarlett who is not only excelling on the track but also in the classroom where she has a grade point average of 3.70. Like basketballer, Alan Iverson and 2009 NCAA female 400 metres Division 1 champion, Francena McCory, who attended Bethel, Scarlett is hoping to be the next big star to come out of that institution.

'I am looking forward to the Nike National in Boston in the second week of March as most of the top high school hurdlers in the United States will be present and I am hoping to improve my personal best and my ranking ... '