By Tim Tassa -- Daily Staff Writer

WINCHESTER — Forgive her if running and jumping hurdles on Millbrook's track team aren't the only things Schavon Hinds does fast.

Consider the pace at which she speaks and it's apparent that more than just her athletic ability is a birthright for the native of Barbados.

"People think we speak like a foreign language," said Hinds, The Northern Virginia Daily's Girls Track Athlete of the Year.

"It's English — you just can't really understand it because like they have different words for different things, and they say it so much faster."

Hinds doesn't speak with an accent — she's lived in the United States since she was 21 months of age — though she admits to inheriting her culture's fleet speech.

It's her teammates, however, that liken her heritage to a nationality that is swift of foot. Though it's a country known for its love of cricket, perhaps Hinds is the track exception.

"Since she is from Barbados, I think it comes natural," teammate Raven Jenkins said. "I think it comes natural because of the fact that she's very tall, she has long legs and she has the speed."

"I always tell her she's super fast," best friend and teammate Melanie Boothe said. "We always make fun of her because she's from Barbados. I guess it's something about that because she be bookin' it."

Hinds has done an excellent job of proving her friends' lighthearted theories correct. Against her competition this spring — Hinds shined in the 100-meter and 300-meter hurdles events — the jerk chicken, beef-patty eating and Reggae listening junior was routinely faster than most of her opponents.

Now, she can relay this season's many achievements to a family that stretches the Shenandoah Valley to one of the southernmost Caribbean islands.

"I just like telling people that I've lived in two different places," said Hinds, who was the Region II champion and state runner-up in the 100-meter hurdles, despite a strained right calf.

"It's a good conversation starter, because most people don't know where it is because it's pretty small. Usually whenever they think about it they think of like: 'Oh, so you're Jamaican.'"

Hinds added first-place medals in the 100-meter and 300-meter hurdles during the Northwestern District meet and a first-place performance as the anchor of the Pioneers 4x100-meter relay team.

"She had a great season," Millbrook head coach Jennifer Ireland said. "It was kind of tough for her to have the injury at the end of the season. It was hard for her, but she fought through it at states and did a wonderful job for us."

Born in St. Michael, Hinds immigrated with her aunt, Sharon Hinds, to the Winchester area from Barbados, which is close in proximity to St. Lucia and Grenada. She said her mom, Suzette, looked for Schavon, who has three brothers and two sisters, to have a better opportunity.

She has since been adopted by her aunt and uncle Sarah and Wayne Springer — she considers them her mom and dad — who have raised her most of her life. Hinds said she keeps in constant contact with her biological mother, brothers and sisters, and has an array of family at her side, especially during track meets.

"I like having a big family, so I have people to be like, 'good Job.' and like supporting me," Hinds said, "because I think it helps a lot."

"I always tell her: 'You better run girl, you're from Barbados, you better go,'" Jenkins said.

"She's like, 'I know!' She just runs, runs, runs."

R Contact Tim Tassa at ttassa@nvdaily.com

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