Sprint queen. That is the title that Saint Lucia lovingly gives to Texas graduate sprinter Julien Alfred.

Alfred continues to shatter records and run herself into NCAA history, but the decorated sprinter is not one to pay attention to the noise of setting records. She is only after titles and the happiness she finds in them.

Alfred has competed in many meets around the world, representing Saint Lucia and Texas. Getting in her block and on her mark while feeling the rubbery prickles of the track is second nature to her. When she’s there on the track, Alfred’s at peace by remembering the grind of preparation she’s been through, with no pressure of setting records.

“Whenever I go into a race, … it’s never about running times or trying to break records; it’s really about getting the title,” Alfred said. “I go out there and compete and just trust myself, my coach and God as long as I know I put the work in.”

The highs of Alfred’s career have come alongside an equal amount of gut-punching lows. Between moving to Jamaica by herself at 14 to pursue track, losses in the family, injuries and race miscues, Alfred has faced many obstacles. Still, she keeps a Bible verse in mind to remind herself of the lessons of hardships and adversity.

“The pain that you’ve been feeling can’t compare to the joy that’s coming,” Romans 8:18 says. Alfred uses this verse to get through lows and push forward to the present, where she seems to have found her joy.

“(That verse) plays a role in my life, especially now,” Alfred said. “Whatever I endured in my first three years of my seasons here in Texas, or even in Jamaica, I think that now I’m seeing the joy, and … I’m just really happy and grateful finally seeing this joyful part of my life.”

Her home country of Saint Lucia shares the same joy that Alfred finds in her success. In the 2022 season, Alfred won the NCAA 100m and 4 x 100m outdoor relay championship titles.

The Saint Lucian government held a homecoming to celebrate her athletic achievements in the summer of 2022. The celebration served as a reminder of how far Alfred has come in her career. 

“I feel going back home last summer and having that experience, it felt great knowing that they’re giving such great support back home, and that I have a whole country, a whole nation, behind me,” Alfred said.

Alfred continues her title push in her last collegiate season and into her international career. For Texas or Saint Lucia, Alfred is still aiming to become one of the world’s fastest women. She trains to better her and her family’s lives. The joy in her life that she has built through her grueling labor has put her on a bright path to make herself, her family and Saint Lucia proud.