Recent BHS grad named Gatorade RI Athlete of the Year

Annika Kelly holds the state record in hammer throw

Posted 6/24/19

Recent Barrington High School graduate Annika Kelly has been named the 2018-19 Gatorade Rhode Island Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year. 

Annika is the first Gatorade Rhode Island …

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Recent BHS grad named Gatorade RI Athlete of the Year

Annika Kelly holds the state record in hammer throw

Posted

Recent Barrington High School graduate Annika Kelly has been named the 2018-19 Gatorade Rhode Island Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year. 

Annika is the first Gatorade Rhode Island Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year to be chosen from Barrington High School. 

The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the track, distinguishes Annika as Rhode Island’s best high school girls track & field athlete. 

Kelly joins an elite alumni association of state track & field award-winners, including Lolo Jones (1997- 98, Roosevelt High School, Iowa), Allyson Felix (2002-03, Los Angeles Baptist High School, Calif.), Robert Griffin III (2006-07, Copperas Cove High School, Texas), Grant Fisher (2013-14 & 2014-15, Grand Blanc High School, Mich.) and Candace Hill (2014-15, Rockdale County High School, Ga.)

As a senior member of the BHS track team, Annika set a state record in the hammer throw at 190 feet, 8 inches which ranked No. 1 in the nation among prep competitors at the time of her selection. Annika won the hammer with a meet-record effort of 189-9 at the state championships, leading the Eagles to a second-place finish as a team. 

A dual citizen of the United States and Estonia, Annika won the 2018 Estonian Under-18 championships and took ninth at the European Under-18 Championships to qualify for the World Youth Olympic Games in Argentina. She finished seventh at that event, setting an Estonian national U-18 record. 

Annika, whose brother Adam was the state’s Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year in 2014-15, has volunteered locally as a math tutor and youth soccer referee. She is a member of Barrington’s state-champion Science Olympiad team and has competed three times at nationals. 

“Annika Kelly has had a great season,” said Bob Palazzo, Classical High School head coach. “She was dominant. No one in the state was close.” 

A National Merit Scholar finalist, Annika has maintained a 3.80 GPA in the classroom. She will attend Princeton University this fall, where she will compete in track & field. 

Annika joins recent Gatorade Rhode Island Girls Track & Field Athletes of the Year Nikki Merrill (2017-18 & 2016-17, Portsmouth High School), May Stern (2015-16, Classical High School), Quashira McIntosh (2014-15, Hope High School) and Maddy Berkson (2013-14, Classical High School) among the state’s list of former award winners. 

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A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.