Sakari Famous will miss the Carifta Games in Cayman Islands next month because of commitments with the University of Georgia, prematurely bringing her career at Caribbean youth level to an end.

The high jumper will compete for her school at a meet in California on the same weekend as the Carifta Games, which will be held from April 20 to 22.

“Unfortunately, Sakari will not be able to attend Carifta,” Donna Raynor, the Bermuda National Athletics Association, president said. “We are disappointed but always knew there was a possibility that she would not be able to attend.”

Seventeen athletes have qualified for Carifta, with the BNAA hoping for more qualifiers before the team is selected on March 31.

“We will be using the inter-school sports as the last qualifiers for the athletes,” Raynor said of the event on Thursday and Friday.

“The Kappa Classic [youth football tournament] is the weekend of March 30, therefore we will not be able to hold another track meet. We are still confident that we will have a team of 20 athletes. We are looking at a few relay teams as well.”

Famous, a six-times medal-winner at Carifta, won Bermuda’s only medal in the Bahamas last year. The college freshman competed in her first outdoor meet for the Lady Bulldogs last weekend, finishing joint second in the high jump at the Yellow Jacket Invitational at Georgia Tech in Atlanta.

Famous cleared the bar at 1.70 metres to tie with Maria Garman, of Dartmouth College. The event was won by Nicole Greene, of North Carolina, with a clearance of 1.81.

Famous began her Carifta career with a silver medal in the Bahamas in 2013, followed by another silver in Martinique the next year before claiming four straight bronze medals.

The competition will be held in Bermuda next year but her eligibility will be up.

The University of Georgia will host two meets next month: the Spec Towns Invitational on April 5 and 6, and the Torrin Lawrence Memorial on April 26 and 27.

Meanwhile, Tiara DeRosa finished fourth in the shot put at the South Alabama Jaguar Opener in Mobile, Alabama, last Friday, with a personal best of 13.31 metres.

DeRosa is looking to hit the qualifying standard of 13.50 in the shot put, her speciality, for the University Games, which will be held in Naples, Italy, in July. The 20-year-old also competed in the discus and won with a throw of 45.47. It was the first outdoor track meet of the season for DeRosa and her Mississippi Valley State University team-mates.