When the CARIFTA Games open over the Easter weekend one of Cayman’s favourites to grab a medal will be girl field event specialists.

Alexandra ‘Nemo’ Terry throws the discus like no other female in Cayman and at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex from 3-5 April she will be in her element.

Terry is one of nine Caymanians who have qualified for CARIFTA.

In 2006 she announced her arrival on the international stage when she mined silver in the Under-17 Girls discus at the CARIFTA Games in Guadeloupe, aged only 15.

Later that year in Trinidad she captured gold in the U-17 discus at the CAC Junior Track & Field Championships.

In 2007 she repeated her silver medal performance at the CARIFTAs in the Turks & Caicos Island of Providenciales.

Competing that year at the Island Games in Rhodes the pencil slim youngster would out duel her more burly competitors and take silver in discus.

Half the age and size of many of her rivals, Terry showed that there is no substitute for excellent timing and technique to maximise throwing distance.

At the 2008 CARIFTAs in St. Kitts she struggled throwing out of the cage but she put that disappointment behind her last year at the Island Games when she repeated her silver medal performance in the women’s discus.

In 2008 she also represented the Islands at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, India.

The national record holder for the women’s discus at junior and senior levels had another disappointing performance at the 2009 CARIFTAs in St. Lucia where a late arrival into that country coupled with only a few hours sleep and a long two hour drive to the stadium combined to take the sharpness off her performance.

This year Terry, 18, is back to fighting trim and is not only in the discus but also the U-20 women’s javelin, an event that she has mastered over the last 18 months.

Gold for this intelligent young woman in both events is not a far-fetched possibility, especially if she can conquer her troubles with throwing from the cage.