Aviniel Barrow – Hannah Williams

Hailing all the way from Nassau, Bahamas, Aviniel Barrow, known by his teammates as “Avi”, has run himself straight into the HU record books. At the Sean Brady Conditioner on December 2, Barrow surpassed Daniel DeBoni on the indoor 60 meter leader board by running a 6.98 — a full .15 faster than DeBoni’s record. The breaking of this record was a full two years in the making, and it’s not even the one he was pushing for.

“One of my personal goals this season is to break the 200m record,” Barrow states. “My best time is a 23.2, and the record stands at 22.6, so it is very attainable.”

The Bahamian competes in the 60m and the 200m during the indoor season and the 100m and 200m outdoors. Barrow has the chance to put his name on the top of the record books three times with the 60m, the 200m and the 100m, where his personal best is roughly .16 off of the current record.

He claims that the 100m dash is his favorite event due to its perfect distance, saying it’s not as short as the 60, but the length doesn’t compare to the 200. It’s just a perfect straight-away sprint.

Not only is Barrow a star on the track, but he has found himself a spot on the soccer team as a keeper. In fact, soccer is what brought him to the states in the first place.

When Barrow began high school, he was given the opportunity to learn at Christchurch Boarding School in Christchurch, Virginia while furthering his soccer and track career.

“Soccer was my main focus while in high school,” he comments. “Track was just a plus.”

While the differences between his town in Nassau and Christchurch were significant, the change from high school to collegiate track had it’s own different learning curves.

“One thing is that you have to actually lift,” Barrow mentions with a breaking smile. “It is much more intense, and it has to be taken [more] seriously than a typical track season in high school.

He said the coaches expect more out of the athletes in college, and he appreciates the fact that college coaches critique him on smaller things. He looks forward to his coach telling him the small ways he can improve his performance as he continues his athletic season.

The ability to earn an education at his school in Virginia also lead the sprinter to Huntington, Indiana. He appreciates the atmosphere of the university and the fact that its small size helps him not get lost in the hustle and bustle of everyday happenings. He also saw the NAIA as an athletic division where he could flourish and continue to improve.

The nerves of getting set in the blocks and having to fully trust in his own abilities to compete the race fill Barrow with excitement. The payoff comes when he gets his results back and understands that the hard work he has put in has lead him to the position he finds himself in — record holder.

Barrow and the rest of the track team hope to break more records this spring.