Maya Pressley has a Caribbean Island destination planned before starting her track career at Auburn this fall.

The Coconut Creek High School graduate and two-time Miami Herald Broward Girls' Track Athlete of the Year, stamped her ticket to the Pan American Junior Athletics Championships on July 31 through Aug. 2 in Trinidad and Tobago by winning the high jump with a personal-best 5-11.5 at the U.S. Junior Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday.

Contacted just before she boarded her flight back to Fort Lauderdale on Sunday afternoon, Pressley said the adrenaline rush she felt Saturday competing at what some consider the mecca of U.S. track stadiums still had not subsided.

''I'm ecstatic, it feels great,'' said Pressley, a Florida High School Athletic Association Class 4A state champion in 2008 and state runner-up in 2009. ``To come all the way to Junior nationals and win makes me so happy. I got alot of support from my dad and my coach. I was aiming for a higher, but I'm glad I set a personal record and will be representing the United States.''

The second and final qualifying spot went to Krystle Schade, a former City of Lauderhill Track teammate and high school rival of Pressley, who cleared 5-10.5.

Pressley said standing on the same track with the likes of U.S. track greats Tyson Gay and Allyson Felix and feeding off a vocal Hayward Field audience gave her the emotional lift needed to set a new personal-best.

Before Saturday Pressley was stuck on 5-10 as her previous personal-best since her junior season but changed all that by hitting 5-11.5 on her third try.

''This was the best track I have been on,'' Pressley said. ``The crowd was really into it. They show so much respect for their athletes. I looked off to one side and saw LaShawn Merritt and Tyson Gay. Then on the other side I saw Allyson Felix warming up. That really pumped me up.''

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