Sisters From Brooklyn Win SI SportsKid of Year Award

Three sisters from Brooklyn will be honored as SportsKids of the Year by Sports Illustrated.

The magazine announced Wednesday that track and field competitors Tai, Rainn and Brooke Sheppard will receive the award on Dec. 12 at the Barclays Center.

The sisters medaled at the AAU Junior Olympics in Houston in July. Ten-year-old Rainn won the 3,000 meters, and 11-year-old Tai ran the 400, 800 and 80-meter hurdles. Nine-year-old Brooke participated in the 800, 1,500 and high jump.

The three members of the Jeuness Track Club excelled despite living in a homeless shelter with their mother, Tonia Handy, after being evicted from their apartment last year. A philanthropist bought Handy a plane ticket so she could fly to Texas to watch her daughters compete after The Associated Press wrote about the family's challenges.

The sisters will appear on the cover of the December issue of Sports Illustrated Kids.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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