Kimberly Williamson. - file

Kimberly Williamson, the national junior high jump record holder, left the island yesterday for Guadalajara, Mexico, where she will compete at the Pan Am Games currently under way.

It's been a long season for the athlete but still she is eager to get into competition. "I'm pretty excited because it's my first senior team," said the Edwin Allen student, who turned 18 on October 2.

"So I'm really looking forward to it."

Williamson has been jumping competitively since early this year and has enjoyed good results.

"Already this is my best season. Overall, it's been a great one, one to remember because I got the national junior record, Penn Relays champion, there's not much more I could have asked for," she said.

The 2010 Boys and Girls' Champs Class II champion set the national junior record of 1.88m in February and has competed right throughout the year clearing 1.82m for a win at the Penn Relays in April, and winning a bronze medal at the Pan Am Juniors in July with a leap of 1.80m. Despite the extended season, she feels her body, more specifically her legs, will hold up during competition in Mexico.

"My legs are pretty good because I have been working on strengthening them so even though it's late in this season, it's all good."

The strength work she has been doing involves mainly resistance work using her own body weight and includes running hills.

However, the protracted season has impacted on her preparations for next season when she aims to be on the national junior team to the IAAF World Junior Championships in Barcelona, Spain, from July 10-15.

"My plan for this coming season is to make and medal at the World Junior Championships, and to attain a medal I have to be jumping something over 1.90m or much higher."

Training for next season would have already begun but these games have forced her to alter her schedule somewhat. That being said, she does not believe it will have that much of an impact on her programme for next year. "I've been training since August so it's pretty hectic. It hasn't really changed for next year; it just has had a little addition to it."