Anthony Foster, Freelance WriterNATIONAL HIGH jump champion Sheree Francis aims to use the Central American and Caribbean Senior Championships to qualify for the World Championships in Helsinki next month.
"My aim is to jump 1.92 metres or more (higher), which would qualify me for the World Championships," Francis said recently.
Despite the fact she will have little time (by July 27) to qualify and the strong competitors she is likely to face, the former Vere athlete believes she is not under any pressure.
STAYING FOCUSED
"Whenever I am jumping I don't think who I am competing against, I just think about what I have to do," she said.
During the recent Supreme Ventures/National Track and Field Championships, Francis failed in her bid to qualify for the World Championships.
"I am not disappointed at all. I am just happy I went out there and jumped 1.89m. I wanted to make it, but I am still happy, I have the CAC, so I have to just go out there and jump 1.92m," she said.
The World Championship qualifying A standard mark is 1.95m, however, if she clears 1.92m she would secure the lone Jamaican spot as a B standard jumper. She is also aiming at national record of 1.90m held by Dianne Guthrie.
"I feel why I didn't jump 1.92m was because of the rain. I get scared when I am jumping in the rain," she said.
Francis, the CARIFTA Games Under-17 record holder with a leap of 1.80m, said she was over-excited with her first national senior title.
When she cleared the bar at 1.89m, beating her personal best of 1.86m, she said "oh my god, I knew I had it in me ..."
After the CAC Championships, she will turn her attention to preparing for her debut season with Texas Agriculture and Mechanics University.
Francis, who left Vere in 2000 and finished high school in Louisiana, has represented Jamaica at the CARIFTA Games, the CAC Junior Championships, the World Junior Championships and the World Youth Champs.
