Vision Academy 345, formally known as 345 Athletics Club, officially relaunched this month with Lacee Barnes-Riley and husband Adrian Riley as its new leaders.
The club was formed in May 2016 by Derek Larner, who passed away on 5 Jan. 2021 after a three-month battle with pancreatic cancer.
Under the tutelage of Larner, many runners throughout the years found success, including athletes medalling at events like the CARIFTA Games and others going on to triumph in other sports, such as footballer Molly Kehoe and sailor Ava Hider.
Former athletes Lacee and Adrian wanted to coach a team of their own and decided to connect with Laura Larner, Derek’s widow.
“She told us that the club has been dormant since his passing and she thought that Adrian and I would be the best fit to continue his legacy,” Lacee told the Compass, calling it a huge honour.
After getting the green light from Laura to take over the club, Lacee is now on track to justify that trust – already recruiting and training around 35 athletes, including standout long jumper Louis Gordon.
Another is 14-year-old high jumper Delora Johnson who was the first to sign up for the club. She told the Compass that she began training with coach Adrian prior to the relaunch, and that she knew it was a good fit to enable her to reach her best.
“It’s been fun; an eye-opening experience,” Delora said. “Everyone has just come together, people that you would expect to not be friends, are friends – it’s kind of like family.”
In hopes of maintaining that bond between the athletes in the club, Lacee noted that she is not planning to expand it in the immediate future.
“It could grow so much bigger than this, but we are focusing on quality,” she explained. “I think right now we will keep our numbers small.
“We do have some amazing, talented athletes that have expressed interest in taking it to the next level. We now have to nurture that and do our best to get them there.”
However, while there are those training under Vision Academy 345 that would like a career in athletics, Lacee said the club is about developing Caymanians to succeed beyond just in track and field.
Last year, Lacee and Adrian made local headlines after they were publicly escorted from trackside at the 2023 CARIFTA games in the Bahamas – an incident which has since been blamed on CARIFTA official Pauline Davis.
For Lacee, the national record holder for the shot put and discus, and gold medalist at the NACAC championships and CARIFTA games, that spat is in the rearview mirror and her focus is to use her experience within the sport to guide Cayman’s up-and-comers.
“We… take a holistic approach,” she said. “Yes, you are here to train on the track, but we are also here to teach you life skills, to provide mentorship. We have some kids that are not going to compete professionally, that’s not their goal, but we are still here to give them guidance.
“It’s about giving back. Cayman and the track world has changed my life incredibly. I think it is only right that a former athlete come back,” she said.
Vision Academy 345 will also feature a branch of athletes training at the Clifton Hunter High School in Frank Sound – the school she attended.
“I thought it was very important that we created a division in the eastern district, which is headed by coach [Ricardo] Hayles, the PE teacher at Clifton Hunter,” Lacee said, adding that the relaunch of the club, which she considers family, wouldn’t be possible without their main sponsor, Digicel.
The 345 Athletics Club, when managed by Derek Larner, primarily focused on middle- and long-distance runners. Now, however, Lacee said, the club will cater to a range of disciplines.
“When Derek was alive, he actually wanted the club to be more than just middle distance,” she said. “That is why it’s very important for us to do all the events… but we are continuing the road-running initiatives that Derek used to do.
“We think about it every day, and that is why we strive to give these kids everything we know Derek would’ve given them too.”
Related Videos
