Jamaica’s collegiate athletes experienced mixed fortunes over the final two days of the 2021 NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships that concluded at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday.
Texas A&M’s Lamara Distin and Clemson’s Roje Stona were among the most successful and Baylor freshman Ackera Nugent experienced how unforgiving the scheduling can be.
Distin, who turned 21 in March, cleared a personal best of 1.90m to win the silver medal in the high jump completion. It took a personal best of 1.93m from South Carolina freshman to deny her the victory in the contest that Distin’s Texas A&M teammate Tyra Gittens finish third having cleared 1.87m.
On Friday, Stona threw a personal best of 61.94m to claim the silver medal for Clemson University. Turner Washington won the event with a throw of 63.42m. University of Virginia freshman Claudio Romero threw 61.36m for the bronze medal.
Ackera Nugent had a rough time of it Saturday because after finishing third in the 100m hurdles in a relatively modest 12.84, immediately she had to line up for the final of the 100m. She was still breathing heavily from the exertions of the hurdles race when they were called to their blocks in the 100m.
Unsurprisingly, she finished ninth in 11.37.
USC’s Anna Cockrell ran 12.58s to win sprint hurdles over Rayniah Jones, who ran 12.82.
North Carolina A&T’s Cambrea Sturgis won the 100m in 10.74 with the aid of a trailing wind of 2.2m/s. USC’s Twanisha Terry (10.79), Alabama’s Tamara Clark (10.88), were second and third, respectively.
Kemba Nelson, meanwhile, was fourth in 10.90.
Cockrell later won the 400m hurdles in a new personal best and collegiate-leading time of 54.68. Arizona’s Shannon Meisberger stormed by Virginia’s Andrenette Knight late to take the silver medal in 55.70 forcing the Jamaican, who ran 55.81, to settle for the bronze medal.
Texas A&M freshman Charokee Young and Texas sophomore Stacey-Ann Williams were the two Jamaicans in the final of the 400m and finished fifth and sixth in 51.13 and 51.34, respectively. They, like everyone else, were no match for Young’s teammate Athing Mu, who ran a personal best 49.57 for victory.
Mu’s winning time was also a collegiate-leading, meet record and facility record.
Florida freshman Talitha Diggs ran a personal best 50.74 for the runner-up position while USC’s Kyra Constantine clocked a personal best 50.87 for the final podium spot.
Young and Mu would run splits of 49.7 and 48.8, respectively to lead Texas A&M to a record-shattering time of 3:22.34 to win the 4x400m relay. A&M’s season-best time was also a collegiate leading time as well as a meet record, facility record and championship record.
USC was second in a season-best 3:24.54 and UCLA was third in their season-best time of 3:25.01. The first eight teams across the line all ran season-best times.
Other than Stona, former Jamaica College athlete Phillip Lemonious was perhaps the best male performer for Jamaica. The Arkansas freshman ran a personal best 13.39 to take the bronze medal in the 110m hurdles that was won by Alabama’s Robert Dunning in 13.25.
Iowa’s Jaylan McConico ran 12.38 to edge out the Jamaican for the silver medal.
Leighton Levy is a journalist with 28 years’ experience covering crime, entertainment, and sports. He joined the staff at SportsMax.TV as a content editor two years ago and is enjoying the experience of developing sports content and new ideas. At SportsMax.tv he is pursuing his true passion - sports.
Pryce establishes new Jamaican and collegiate record to win 400m title at NCAA Championships; Lyston takes silver in 100m
Lorraine Fenton’s 22-year-old Jamaican 400m record is no more as Arkansas Nickisha Pryce produced an excellent display to establish a new mark in a winning effort at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday.
Pryce produced a time of 48.89 to win gold and smash Fenton’s previous mark of 49.30 set back in 2002.
The 23-year-old’s time is also a collegiate record, erasing Britton Wilson’s 49.13 done in 2023.
Arkansas occupied the first four spots in Saturday’s final through Kaylyn Brown (49.13), Amber Anning (49.59) and Rosey Effiong (49.72).
In the Women’s 100m, LSU’s Brianna Lyston produced 10.89 (2.2 m/s) for second behind Ole Miss senior McKenzie Long who won in 10.82. Texas Tech senior Rosemary Chukwuma was third in 10.90.
Beckford successfully defends NCAA high jump crown; Powell produces big personal best for podium finish in 400m
Arkansas senior Romaine Beckford successfully defended his NCAA Division I Outdoor high jump title on day three of the NCAA Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene on Friday.
The 21-year-old cleared a height of 2.26m on his second attempt to add to his gold medal at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March.
The reigning Jamaican national champion also had three unsuccessful attempts at 2.33m, a jump that would’ve secured a personal best and the Olympic qualifying standard.
Nebraska junior Tyus Wilson was second with 2.23m while Arkansas-Pine Bluff senior Caleb Snowden was third with a similar height.
Jamaican USC freshman Racquil Broderick produced 61.77m to finish second in the men’s discus behind South Alabama senior Francois Prinsloo (63.51m).
Kansas junior Dimitrios Pavlidis was third with 60.97m.
The men’s 400m final saw Jamaican Florida senior Jevaughn Powell produce a big personal best 44.54 to finish third behind Georgia sophomore Christopher Morales Williams (44.47) and Alabama freshman Samuel Ogazi (44.52).
Jamaican Clemson senior Tarees Rhoden was also in personal best form with 1:45.70 for fourth in the 800m final behind Virginia senior Shane Cohen (1:44.97), Texas A&M junior Sam Whitmarsh (1:45.10) and Iowa State junior Finley McLear (1:45.66).
Briana Williams speeds to confidence-boosting season’s best 11.08 in 100m dash in California
Jamaica’s Olympic relay gold medalist Briana Williams delivered a spectacular and confidence-boosting performance in the 100m dash at the Last Chance Sprint Series meeting held at the Notre Dame High School Athletic Facility in Sherman Oaks, California, on Friday night.
In what can only be described as a thrilling display of speed and determination, Williams, who recently joined John Smith Athletics in March after spending a year and a half training in Jamaica, set the stage for an electrifying evening. She began with an impressive run in the preliminary round, clocking 11.19 seconds, the second-fastest time behind Destiny Smith Barnett’s 11.13.
However, the final round saw Williams elevate her performance to new heights. Racing with poise and power, she clocked a massive season’s best of 11.08 seconds, finishing in second place just behind Smith Barnett, who achieved a lifetime best of 10.99 seconds. Kiley Robbins secured third place with a time of 11.13 seconds.
Elated by her performance, the two-time World Championship silver medalist shared her joy and optimism on Instagram, stating, “After what was an intense week of training today I ran a season’s best in my prelims 11.19 (0.3) with a second place finish. An hour later in my finals, another season’s best 11.08 (0.6) with a second place finish and a stumble in my start.”
She praised her coach John Smith for his support, adding, “Thank you @coachjsmith and my whole team for believing in me and getting me ready at the right time. @drrashnoor for getting my body ready. This is just the beginning of something great, still so much I’ve got to improve on. I look forward to going into my Olympic trials at the end of June.”
Williams' path to this moment has not been without its challenges. Prior to Friday night’s races, she recorded times of 11.54, 11.39, 11.47, and 11.81 seconds as she adapted to her new training regimen under Coach Smith, who also mentors World Championship medalist Marie-Josée Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast. After competing at the Jamaica Athletics Invitational in May, Williams spoke to Sportsmax.TV about her transition, stating, "Training, I am taking it day by day. I’m learning new things; it’s a new program so I’m getting adjusted every day, loving the progress. I’m just taking my time, we have six weeks to go to trials so I want to get everything in, start running every week, and just getting race ready, taking it one day at a time to prepare and make the team."
Friday night’s performance marks a significant step forward for Williams as she continues her journey towards the Jamaica National Championships in June with the hope of qualifying for her second Olympic Games.
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