J’voughnn Blake, 19, will attend the prestigious Dartmouth University in New Hampshire after receiving a scholarship to the Ivy League school. Blake, who was the captain of the track and field team at Jamaica College, plans to pursue the study of microbiology. Speaking of his plans to become a professional microbiologist, Blake said he was “fascinated by life” and by investigating “the small things that make it happen.” During his academic career, Blake attained an impressive record of 19 CXC, 13 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC), and six Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) subjects.
In 2022, Blake won the boys’ Class One 800-meter/1500-meter combination at the Intersecondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Championships and the Carifta Games Under-20 double. In addition to his stellar academics, Blake, the ISSA Champs class-one middle-distance double champion, ran the 800-meters in 1:47.62 minutes at recent Carifta trials. Blake also won the Boys’ Under-20 800-meter event at the Carifta games held at Kingston’s National Stadium in Jamaica on April 18, 2022, prior to anchoring the Jamaica College team in his final school race in the 4x800meters at the recent Penn Relays. Blake told the Jamaica Observer that he considers his personal best time of 1:47.62 minutes achieved in the 800 meters at the Carifta trial where he ran alone as his most outstanding result.
Blake stated that choosing from among the available scholarship offers was a difficult process, calling it his “most frustrating decision.” He added that he made the decision in consultation with his coach Duayne Johnson before deciding upon a school that had the combination of academics and a sports program with a good technical staff they both felt comfortable with. According to Neil Harrison, head coach at Jamaica College, the relationship between Blake and his coach is “more than a coach and an athlete, but more like father and son.” Dartmouth College’s track team posted its welcome to Blake on Instagram, writing, “Welcome to the Big Green family J’Voughnn.”
Blake received numerous scholarship offers from many top colleges and universities in the United States before ultimately choosing to attend Dartmouth.
