Kemba Nelson
University of Oregon
Kemba Nelson has characterized her first season competing on the American collegiate circuit as ‘incredible’ after her fourth-place finish in the 100m at the NCAA Division I Outdoor season that concluded in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday.
Nelson, who turned 21, in February, spent her first two years of college at the University of Technology in Kingston, Jamaica, before making the move to the University of Oregon last December.
After a solid indoor season during which she was crowned national 60m champion, Nelson capped off her year with a 10.90s run that saw her finish behind Cambrea Sturgis 10.74, Twanisha Terry 10.79 and Tamara Clarke 10.88. The trailing wind was 2.2m/s but Nelson had run a wind-legal 10.98 in the preliminary rounds the week before.
One would have thought that finishing out of the top three would have been a disappointment for the young Jamaican, especially after she was involved in a mishap that ended up with a dropped baton in the 4x100m relay.
However, for Nelson, when one considers what she endured before ending up at Oregon, the just-concluded season was not such a bad one after all.
“A year ago, I left NACAC with a messed up Achilles and Pan Am in a wheelchair with a Grade 2 hamstring tear. Six months later, I strained my other hamstring and so I decided to leave my previous camp four months after this incident,” she said in her posts on social media on Sunday.
“Fast forward six months into my collegiate career. I broke the Indoor Collegiate Record, Meet Record, School Record, 5th Jamaican all-time over 60m, rank 2nd in the world over 60m. Outdoor season with dipping 4 times under 11 seconds. 4th fastest collegiate over 100m in the NCAA. And oh yeah, I’m all-American. Incredible season!”
Nelson will now rest up before flying to Jamaica to see if her year can get even better by earning a spot on Jamaica’s team to the Tokyo, Olympics in July.
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.
Edwin Allen, Holmwood and Alphansus Davis through to High School Girls 4x800m final at Penn Relays
As the battles of high schools at the 128th staging of the Penn Relays got underway at Franklin Field in Philadelphia on Thursday, Edwin Allen High, Alphansus Davis High and Holmwood Technical have advanced to the finals of the 4x800m relays.
The team of Rickeisha Simms, Monqie Stewart, Horecia Love and Tonian Allen clocked a time of 9:04.67 to win their heat and advance as one of the 12 fastest teams heading into the final. Purdue Academy were the runners up in the heat with a time of 9:09.66.
Third in the heat were IMG Academy that were timed in 9:12.13.
Meanwhile, Alphansus Davis High (Tabbrel Williams, Alikay Reynolds, Allecia Johnson, Carlene Temple) finished third in their heat in 9:06.25, a time that also saw them advance to the finals.
Their heat was won by Union Athletic who clocked 9:02.27, the fastest time heading into the finals. Second was Rumson Fair-Haven in 9:04.48.
Holmwood Technical (Terrica Clarke, Cindy Rose, Jovi Rose, Florence Nafamba) just managed to make it with their time of 9:18.65, which saw them finish second in their heat behind winners Guilderland (9:18.25).
Chris Gayle challenges Usain Bolt to race: “All Usain will be seeing is a lot of dust”
West Indian batting legend Chris Gayle has spoken about the time Jamaican spring king Usain Bolt got his wicket in a friendly game which led the hard-hitting batsman to challenge the sprinter to a race.
“Till this day, he’s still afraid of me. Doesn’t want to see me on a 100m track,” Gayle tells ICC in a new video released by cricket’s world governing body before breaking into a laugh.
“Of course, I’m a sprinter. All Usain Bolt will be seeing is a lot of dust and the Universe Boss just going down the stretch,” Gayle added.
In response, Bolt said “we all know Chris can’t run. We have seen him. We know Chris doesn’t do quick singles or anything. We’re not worried about Chris.”
Responding to this, Gayle said, “that’s a big lie. I run a lot of ones, twos, threes, you name it… sometimes even fours. So, Bolt, get your running spikes ready. And if you want to bring any other athlete along, you know, Yohan Blake, Asafa Powell, anybody. Somebody gonna come fourth. And it’s not me!”
Talking about Bolt taking his wicket, Gayle said that the incident had happened at a charity match where Bolt had bowled a “damn good bouncer” at him, following which he told himself to not hold back at the “fun game.”
“After the bouncer I said to myself, it’s a fun game. What am I doing? So, I start smashing him. Hit him for one or two sixes and probably for a few fours. Then, eventually, I get an inside edge onto the stumps,” said Gayle.
Gayle and Bolt are both ambassadors for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the USA from June 1-29.
Frazsiers Whip to represent Jamaica in inaugural Concacaf Women's Champions Cup
As expected, Frazsiers Whip will be Jamaica’s representative in the inaugural Concacaf Women’s Champions Cup, a new annual tournament that includes the best clubs from North America, Central America, and the Caribbean and crowns the region’s women’s club champion.
The tournament is also the sole path through which clubs in Concacaf can qualify for the new FIFA Women’s Club World Cup, which FIFA has committed to launching in the near future.
By virtue of winning the 2022/23 Jamaica Women’s Premier League, Frazsiers Whip booked their spot for the first edition of the competition, which will feature 11 clubs from seven Member Associations.
The other confirmed participants are Canada’s 2023 League One Women’s Inter-Provincial Championship winners Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Costa Rica’s LD Alajuelense, Mexico’s Tigres UANL Femenil, as well as the United States trio of Gotham FC, San Diego Wave FC and Portland Thorns FC.
El Salvador and Panama are yet to confirm their representatives for their solitary spots, while Mexico’s two other representatives will be known at the conclusion of the Liga MX Clausura.
Interim Reggae Girlz Head coach Xavier Gilbert, who guided Frazsiers Whip to league honours, welcomed the move by Concacaf, which he believes will offer some exposure for local players, despite the gulf in class between other leagues around the region and Jamaica's Women's League.
"It's important for local football, however, I don't think any of our local teams will be able to match up with the teams from Mexico or United States. Those clubs are professional clubs playing in a fully professional leagues, while ours is nowhere close to their standard," Gilbert told SportsMax.TV in a recent interview.
"But it is good, it is more football and more exposure for our local players. At the same time, I think it sends a signal of how important it is for us to look at what we are doing in terms of resources and surfaces for our local teams. So, it is good move by Concacaf, and I think it's for us now here in Jamaica to look at what we are doing and try to improve the quality of our league," he added.
The official draw for the tournament is scheduled for June 6.
Action in the Concacaf Women’s Champions Cup is expected to get underway in August, with a Preliminary Round, followed by Group and Knockout Stage play. The Preliminary Round Play-in will be a single-leg match between two clubs, with the winner advancing to the Group Stage.
The Group Stage will feature 10 clubs divided into two groups of five clubs each. Each club will play every club in its group once, for a total of four matches per club (two at home and two away). At the conclusion of Group Stage play, the group winners and runners-up (four clubs) will progress to the competition’s final four.
The semifinals, third-place encounter, and final, where the first-ever Concacaf Women’s Champions Cup winners will be crowned, will be centralized in a venue to be announced.
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