March 26, 2013

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina junior high jumper Jeannelle Scheper will don the cerulean blue, gold and black of her native St. Lucia at the 42nd edition of the Caribbean Junior Championships, known as the CARIFTA Games. The event is being held in the Thomas Robinson Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas, this weekend. The 2013 NCAA Indoor silver medalist will compete on Sunday, April 1, at 9 a.m. (ET).

Twenty-six Caribbean Island countries are slated to take part in the 2013 CARIFTA games spread over three days of the Easter weekend. The 19 year-old Gamecock is one of seven athletes representing St. Lucia and is the lone female. Scheper enters the weekend touting a personal record of 6-3 ¼ (1.91m), which is a Caribbean junior and school record.

This year marks Scheper’s fourth and final appearance at CARIFTA. Previously, she has qualified for the 2010 CARIFTA Games in George Town, Cayman Islands, the 2011 edition in Montego Bay, Jamaica and last year’s event in Hamilton, Bermuda. She won bronze in all three of her appearances, clearing 5-11 (1.80m) last year.

Last summer, Scheper won her first international gold medal as she took top honors at the 2012 Central American and Caribbean Athletic Confederation (CACAC) Games.