When Jounee Armstrong won champion girl for the third-straight year at the recently concluded JISA/Tastee National Prep Schools Track and Field Championships, she virtually guaranteed her spot on the “Wall of Fame” at her school Vaz Prep.

A number of athletes in various sporting disciplines who have represented Vaz in JISA-run competitions and then gone on to outstanding sporting careers have had their names emblazoned on the Sports Wall of Fame at the Dunoon Road-based institution.

Based on her performances from 2016-2018 in the blue and yellow jersey, Armstrong is sure to join the likes of Sanya Richards-Ross and Alia Atkinson as women listed on “the wall”.

The 12-year-old had a dominant performance at “Prep Champs” winning the Class One Girls’ 100m in 12.91 and 200m in 26.21 on the final day of the championships, a day after defending her long jump title with a record-breaking 5.67m, to be the only athlete to tally 27 points at the three-day event.

Despite her best efforts, Armstrong was unable to help her school put an end to the winning streak of defending champions Hydel, who made it 13 in a row. However, her streak of being champion girl from her final year in Class Two and back-to-back in Class One will cement her status as a prep school star.

Armstrong will head to Wolmer’s Girls in September, after being granted her first choice following success in her GSAT exams. She is excited to be heading to the home of Jamaican Olympic and World Champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, whom she idolises.

“I always wanted to attend Wolmer’s from I was a little girl, because Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is my role model and I look up to her. She went to Wolmer’s and I want to follow in her footsteps,” she revealed.

The 200m is the favourite of her three events and Armstrong explained the reason for that.

“If someone is faster than me, but I am better at the curve, I have a better advantage of winning the race, that’s why it’s my favourite event,” she reasoned.

The youngster, who also plays netball for her school, says she went into the championships expecting to be crowned champion girl once again, having prepared herself properly for it.

“It felt amazing to be the champion girl again. I worked hard at training and I ate properly,” Armstrong noted.

It appears that eating properly was very difficult for the pre-teen, who said: “It was very hard because I would normally have KFC on Friday, but I had to stop.”

Achieving the type of success that she has does not come without a proper support structure in place and Armstrong credits her coach Nickoy Robinson and her mom for her consistency.

She is on the taller side for her age-group which gives her an added advantage, and Armstrong is unlikely to be overawed when she pulls on the maroon-and-gold jersey at her new school, a challenge the Sunshine Girls fan is already looking forward to with great anticipation.

“I am looking forward to compete for my new school and hopefully run at Champs next year. Hopefully, I will get the chance,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

The gold medal she won and the record she broke in the long jump may be the last of her track and field career; however, as she is not sure that she will continue the event in high school.

“It’s having an awful effect on my feet… I am not so sure that I will continue the event even though I have had success at Prep Champs,” Armstrong stated.