For the third time in the past four years, Shaunae Miller has been voted as The Nassau Guardian's Junior Female Athlete of the Year.
This year, Miller was unanimously chosen as she turned in one of the greatest years by a Bahamian junior athlete in the history of sports in the country. She is the Austin Sealy Award winner from the CARIFTA Games where she successfully doubled in the 200 and 400 meters (m), she won an NCAA Indoor title over 400m, finished as the top ranked junior female athlete in the world for 2013 over 200 and 400m, and culminated the year by finishing fourth in the women's 200m at the World Outdoor Championships in Moscow, Russia.
Miller set numerous national and school records along the way, posting personal best times of 22.45 seconds in the 200m, and 50.70 seconds in the 400m. Both are new junior national records.
At the CARIFTA Games, Miller was the darling of the meet. She cruised in the final of the under-20 girls 400m, winning by more than a
second over her nearest rival, Chris-Ann Gordon of Jamaica. Miller won in 51.63 seconds compared to Gordon's 53.22 seconds. In the 200m, Miller and second place finisher Shericka Jackson, of Jamaica, both went under Anthonique Strachan's CARIFTA record of 22.85 seconds. Miller won in 22.77 seconds and Jackson was second, in 22.84 seconds. Miller also ran as a part of the gold medal winning 4x100m relay team, sealing the meet's top prize. It was the third year in a row that The Bahamas won the prestigious Austin Sealy award, as Strachan won in 2011 and 2012.
On the collegiate scene, Miller renewed her rivalry with Illinois sophomore Ashley Spencer and Arkansas senior Regina George. She won the NCAA Indoor title over 400m, beating both Spencer and George, this after finishing third at the Southeastern Conference (SEC) over that distance. Outdoors, she was second at the NCAA Championships in the 400m to Spencer. Spencer ran a stunning 50.28 seconds while Miller set her new junior national and school record of 50.70 seconds. As a freshman, Miller set University of Georgia indoor and outdoor records in the 400m. She is the school's second fastest ever in the 200m.
Miller's real crowning glory moment for 2013 might have come at the Moscow World Championships though. There she carried the hopes of a nation on her shoulders, and shone brightly as the youngest athlete to ever make the final of the women's 200m at the world championships. Miller wasn't done yet, as she stormed through for fourth, just barely missing out on a medal. It was the highest individual finish for The Bahamas at the biennial global meet. Miller, who opted out of the 400m, came off the curve in eighth place in the 200m final, but passed four runners on the home stretch to finish fourth in 22.74 seconds. The performance wrapped up a truly historic and fantastic year for the talented Bahamian sprinter.
On the strength of five gold medals from the CARIFTA Swimming Championships, young Abaconian swimmer Margaret Albury Higgs was second in voting for The Nassau Guardian's Junior Female Athlete of the Year. She finished with 22 points, just ahead of fellow swimmer Joanna Evans and Devynne Charlton, from athletics, who finished tied for third, with 21 points. Tennis player Simone Pratt rounded out The Nassau Guardian's top five junior female athletes, as she finished with 17 points.
In swimming, Margaret Albury Higgs swept the breaststroke events in her division at the CARIFTA Championships. She also won individual gold medals in the 200m and 400m Individual Medleys (IM).
Evans, who returned home with two gold medals and a new national record from those CARIFTA Swimming Championships, finished tied for third with Charlton. Evans also represented The Bahamas at the 4th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where she lowered the national record in the 800m free once again. She was 16th overall, in 8:58.64. Evans is the only Bahamian female to ever swim under nine minutes in the event, and now she has done it twice. The FINA World Junior Swimming Championships is the biggest meet in the world for swimmers 18 years and younger, and Evans earned a point for the country with her 16th place finish.
Charlton was exceptional this year as well. She won the gold medal in the under-20 girls 100m at the CARIFTA Games in a stunning finish, just out-leaning her teammate Carmiesha Cox. Charlton ran 11.60 seconds compared to Cox's 11.61 seconds. Charlton also won the bronze medal in the under-20 girls 100m hurdles, in 14.25 seconds, and led off a super fast under-20 girls 4x100m relay team which included Miller on second leg, Cox on the third leg, and Keianna Albury on anchor. That team won the gold medal in 44.77 seconds, almost a full second ahead of second place finisher Barbados (45.67 seconds).
Young tennis player Simone Pratt, who finished with a 20-5 record in singles this year, representing the country at numerous International Tennis Federation's (ITF) junior tournaments around the region and the world, was fifth in voting this year. She is currently ranked as the number 221st ranked junior female player in the world.
Gymnast Athalia Swann, who scored a perfect 10 on floor exercise for Level 8 this year, Carmiesha Cox, Jessica Cartwright from sailing, swimmer Victoria Russell and new tennis national champion Danielle Thompson rounded out the top 10.

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