Kenori Simons offered a glimpse of his potential after claiming a haul of titles at the Maine Class C State Championships.

The Bermudian won gold medals in the 100 and 200 metres and 4x100 relay competing for Washington Academy High School at last Saturday’s track meet hosted by Cony High School in Augusta, Maine.

Simons claimed the 100 metres dash title for the second straight year in a personal best time of 11.21sec, while missing out on beating his previous best in the 200, clocking 23.00.

The young sprinter then anchored his school’s relay team to victory to cap a memorable outing that exceeded his expectations in the build-up to the event.

“It was my second time being at state championship and I never thought I would win three times there,” Simons told The Royal Gazette. The 18-year-old was making his curtain call at the championship as he is in his final year of studies at the school.

“I wanted to make this one memorable,” Simons added.

“I was saying since the start of the season that I wanted to make this year the best year and can definitely say that I finished with a bang.”

The Devonshire resident is humbled to have earned the right to compete at the championship and excel at this level.

“Just being there and knowing that I can do bigger things was a humbling experience for me because I never thought I would have made that far,” he said.

Simons was both thrilled and relieved to have reaped the benefits from all of the hard work he has put into training this season.

“Practising every day was no joke,” he added. “I took every practice serious because I was focused on only one goal coming into this season, and that was making it to state championship.

“That’s what I wanted to achieve all season and it definitely was a great relief to know that hard work paid off in the end and crazy to actually win three titles.”

Simons is thankful to all those in his corner who continue to lend their valuable support and encouragement.

“I have people by my side that have belief in me,” he said.

“The person I really have to thank is my grandmother [Shirlene] for sacrificing herself for me to come out here and give me an experience of a lifetime I never thought I would have.”

The teenager has made a transition from playing football for North Village before switching to running four years ago.

Having already demonstrated his potential competing on the Maine high school athletics scene, Simons has not ruled out representing Bermuda at international junior events such as the Carifta Games if given the chance.

“I would gladly take the opportunity if I ever got a chance to run at Carifta or even just train with Bermuda to get better,” he added.

“I was originally into a lot of football because I had never thought I would be a runner.

“However, after winning three state championship titles it’s got me thinking about what I can produce for Bermuda.

“I have always wanted to represent Bermuda but I have never had big ambitions.

“I started running four years ago at Whitney Middle School and won 100 metres dashes there as well, so I guess I took my running talents to Washington Academy.”