Jamaica’s Safhia Hinds looked every bit the contender she has become on Thursday night at the NCAA West Regionals in Bryan-College Station, Texas, as she strolled to a convincing win in her 400m hurdles heat to lead a trio of Jamaican women into the next round.

Hinds, a junior at Kansas State, ran a composed and confident race, taking control early and maintaining her lead through the final stretch. With qualification well in hand, she coasted over the final two hurdles and still managed to stop the clock at 56.64 seconds—comfortably ahead of her heat rivals. The win followed her recent personal best of 55.90, a mark she now seems poised to lower again this weekend.

Joining her in the next round are fellow Jamaicans Calisha Taylor of Baylor and Dyandra Gray of the University of Minnesota. Taylor, a senior, finished third in her heat with 57.26 seconds, showing consistency and control to automatically qualify. Gray, also a senior, delivered a strong performance to finish third in her heat in a personal best 57.29.

The three were among the top 24 athletes advancing to the quarterfinals, with the top three from each heat and the six fastest non-automatic qualifiers moving on.

With Hinds in commanding form and Taylor and Gray looking sharp, Jamaica will be strongly represented in the next round. Hinds, in particular, appears ready to challenge the sub-56 barrier again as she eyes a spot in the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon.