Arkansas’s Jaydon Hibbert has allayed any fears that he suffered an injury during his fourth-round attempt at the NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Championships on Friday.

Hibbert pulled up limping during his run up and appeared to have suffered an injury after he was seen limping during his walk back. However, the World Under-20 record holder said the limping was due to cramping.

“It was a good competition and I’m really grateful. Anything could have happened. Could’ve gotten injured but I came out healthy,” Hibbert said on social media on Friday.

“Ready for the rest of the season but we have to rest first,” he added.

Earlier on Friday, Hibbert jumped 17.56m to secure the triple jump title at the championships, adding to his stellar season which also saw him take the SEC Indoor and Outdoor crowns as well as the NCAA Indoor title.

At those SEC Outdoors, Hibbert produced a World Under-20 record 17.87m, the furthest jump in the world this year.

Such is the impressive form of triple jump sensation Jaydon Hibbert that he only required two attempts to win the event and end his freshman year of college undefeated.

In fact, it was on his very first jump that Hibbert cut the sand at the winning mark of 17.56m, in a negative 0.3 metres per second wind, on Friday's third and penultimate day of the NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Austin, Texas.

Hibbert representing University of Arkansas followed that with another big leap of 17.38m, but later pulled out of his run up for a third and fourth attempts, as he suffered what appeared to be cramps or some discomfort in his right leg.

However, the damage was already done, as his initial mark which bettered the previous Facility Record of 17.13m and was just shy of the Meet Record of 17.57m, ensured that the former Kingston College stalwart added another accolade to his South-eastern Conference indoor and outdoor titles, as well as the NCAA indoor honours. The 18-year-old, also smashed a number of records, including the World Under-20 mark for indoor and outdoor, along the way.

Hibbert won ahead of University of Miami's Russell Robinson (16.94m) and Florida State senior, Jeremiah Davis (16.67m).

Owayne Owens (16.36m) of University of Virginia and Malik Cunningham (16.17m) of Villanova, were sixth and seventh, while Hibbert's Arkansas teammates Carey McLeod (15.99m), who won the long jump in a Jamaican sweep, and Ryan Brown (15.89m), finished 11th and 12th respectively.  Apalos Edwards of Louisiana State, did not turn up.

On the track, Phillip Lemonious of Arkansas capped his college career in style with victory in the men’s 110m hurdles to claim his first individual national title and in the process became the first Arkansas athlete to win the event since 2006.

Lemonious, who clocked a personal best 13.28 seconds in qualifying, lowered that time when he stopped the clock in 13.24s, running in a positive 1.8m/s wind. He maintained his composure over the 10 obstacles from a good break in lane five, to stave off the late challenge of De'Vion Wilson (13.26s) of Houston and Jaheem Hayles (13.28s) of Syracuse.

Giano Roberts of Clemson was fifth in 13.31s.

It was sweet redemption for the 24-year-old Lemonious, who endured a rough patch last season.

"To be honest, I try so hard. Last year took a toll on me and coming back this year was also hard battling injuries, but I just had to trust my coach, who told me that this is my championship to win so I went out there and got it," Lemonious said shortly after the race.

University of South Florida junior, Romaine Beckford, also showed good form on the night to win the men’s high jump and successfully complete the double, adding this outdoor championship to his indoor title. 

Beckford soared to a new personal best height of 2.27m on his way to victory, denying Oklahoma senior, Vernon Turner, who also cleared 2.27m, but had to settle for second on the count back. Roberto Vilches of Missouri was third with a season's best leap of 2.24m.

Former St George’s College student Zayne Palomino of Southern Mississippi finished down the pack after he only managed to clear 2.06m.

Elsewhere in the field, Roje Stona of the University of Arkansas, who placed 14th in the shot put, produced a stronger showing in the discus, placing second behind the vibrant Turner Washington of Arizona State.

Stona, launched the instrument to a big fourth round mark of 65.55m and seemed well on his way to the gold, before Washington snatched victory with his very last effort of 66.22m, a season’s best.

Former Petersfield standout Kevin Nedrick of Liberty University was fifth with a mark of 61.93m, while Stona's Arkansas teammate Ralford Mullings was 16th at 57.68m.

Meanwhile, Jevaughn Powell, finished seventh in the men’s 400m final in 45.32s, as his University of Florida teammates Emmanuel Bamidele and Ryan Willie both clocked personal best times of 44.24 and 44.25 in a close one-two finish. Emmanuel Bynum of Tennessee also clocked a personal best 44.49 for third.

Powell later joined forces with Bamidele, Jacory Patterson and Willie to clinch victory in the 4X400m relay, to retain the Men’s Team crown.

There were no signs of tired legs on display as all four athletes clocked blistering splits, with Powell on the third leg being clocked at 44.94s, passing to Willie, who closed in 44.28s to stop the clock in 2:57.74, a new Facility, Meet and Collegiate Record.

Arizona State (2:57.78) and UCLA (2:59.82) were second and third respectively.

The Mike Holloway-coached Gators tallied 57 points, four ahead of Arkansas, with Stanford (44 points) and Louisiana State University (43 points), placing third and fourth.

Jaydon Hibbert continues to rack up accolades in only his first year at the University of Arkansas. On Wednesday, the record-breaking Jamaican was named SEC Outdoor Freshman Field Athlete of the Year and Field Athlete of the Year.

 He becomes the first freshman to claim both field event honors since Mondo Duplantis of LSU in 2019.

The previous Razorback to sweep both awards was pole vaulter Andrew Irwin in 2009.

Other Arkansas Freshman Field Athlete of the Year include jumpers Nkosina Balumbu in 2006 and Tarik Batchelor in 2009. Razorbacks named Field Athlete of the Year include jumper Alain Bailey in 2009 and decathlete Ayden Owens-Delerme in 2022.

Hibbert, who also claimed the SEC Indoor Freshman of the Year accolade, broke the triple jump collegiate record by nearly 0.3m in winning the SEC Outdoor title on his second attempt in the competition.

The former Kingston College athlete’s mark of 17.87m bettered the field by more than a metre while his opening round effort of 17.02m would also have claimed the victory. In addition to breaking multiple records, four of which were set in the 1980s, Hibbert moves to equal 13th on the all-time world list, matching the career best mark by Olympic gold medallist Mike Conley from 1987.

Hibbert is the Number 2 performer with the Number 2 performance on the Jamaican all-time list, trailing only the 17.92m by James Beckford from the 1995 NJCAA Championships in Odessa, Texas.

On the Arkansas all-time list, Hibbert surpassed two of Conley’s marks that were both set in winning the 1985 NCAA title in Austin, Texas. A wind-assisted 17.71m and a wind-legal 17.54m.

His awards were among five titles won by the University of Arkansas.

Coach of the Year went to Chis Bucknam, Jaydon Hibbert collected a pair of awards – Field Athlete of the Year and Freshman Field Athlete of the Year – while Ben Shearer was named co-Freshman Runner of the Year.

Coach of the Year went to Chis Bucknam, Ben Shearer was named co-Freshman Runner of the Year and Ayden Owens-Delerme was named Co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year.       

Terrence Jones and Kion Benjamin both booked their spots in the semi-finals of the Men’s 100m at the 2023 NCAA Championships scheduled for June 7-10 at the Mike A. Myers Stadium in Texas.

The pair advanced from the quarterfinals held on day three of the NCAA West Regionals in Sacramento on Friday.

Jones, the Bahamian Texas Tech junior, produced a time of 9.93, just .2 seconds slower than his personal best and national record-equaling 9.91 done earlier this season, to advance to the semis second-fastest from the West region. The 20-year-old also ran 20.21 to advance in the 200m.

Benjamin, the Trinidadian Minnesota Junior and reigning Big 10 100m champion, set a new personal best of 10.11 to advance. His countryman and Minnesota teammate, Carlon Hosten, ran 20.49 to advance in the 200m.

In the 400m, St. Lucian Kansas Junior Michael Joseph, advanced with 45.23

Jamaican Arkansas Junior Phillip Lemonious ran 13.45 to progress in the 110m hurdles. Joining him in Texas will be Bahamian Texas Tech freshman Antoine Andrews (13.74).

In the field, world leader and world junior record holder, Jaydon Hibbert, produced 16.81m to advance in the triple jump alongside teammates and countrymen Ryan Brown (16.25m) and Carey McLeod (15.88m).

Hibbert, still only 18, famously jumped an absurd 17.87m at the SEC Outdoor Championships on May 13, setting a new world lead, collegiate record and world under-20 record in the process.

Roje Stona (65.54m) and Ralford Mullings (61.74m), both of Arkansas, advanced in the discus. Stona also threw 19.89m to advance in the shot put.

On Wednesday, the Arkansas pair of Wayne Pinnock and Carey McLeod jumped 8.05m and 7.80m, respectively, to advance in the long jump. The Jamaican pair were the top two finishers at the SEC Outdoor Championships.

Meanwhile on the women’s side, their countrywoman, Texas sophomore Ackelia Smith, jumped 6.69m to lead all qualifiers. Nebraska’s Velecia Williams (6.37m) also advanced.

Smith is fresh off a personal best 7.08m, the furthest legal jump in the world this year, to win at the Big 12 Championships earlier in May.

At the Eastern Regionals in Jacksonville, Florida’s Jevaughn Powell (46.68), and North Carolina A&T’s Shemar Chambers (46.89) both made it through in the 400m.

In the sprint hurdles, Caymanian Tennessee senior Rasheem Brown ran 13.45 to advance alongside Jamaican Syracuse junior Jaheem Hayles (13.67).

Defending Jamaican national champion Navasky Anderson of Mississippi State (1:49.43) and Tarees Rhoden of Clemson (1:49.70) both made it through in the 800m.

Arkansas superstar freshman Jaydon Hibbert has been named as the US Track and Field and Cross- Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Male National Athlete of the Week.

The 18-year-old Jamaican demolished the World U20 record as well as the collegiate outdoor record in the triple jump this past weekend at the SEC Outdoor Championships when he produced a wind-legal 17.87m on his second attempt.

That added nearly one foot to the previous collegiate record of 17.57m, set by Keith Connor of SMU back in 1982.

Hibbert is now the holder of both the indoor and outdoor collegiate triple jump records. He shattered the collegiate indoor record in a winning effort at the NCAA Indoor Championships back in March when he jumped 17.54m.

Jaydon Hibbert, the University of Arkansas' SEC Freshman of the Year and reigning World U20 champion, has set the bar high for his competitors after an outstanding performance in the men’s triple jump at the SEC Championships last weekend. Hibbert believes that despite his world-leading 17.87m jump, his best is yet to come this season.

 Speaking after his remarkable performance at LSU’s Bernie Moore Stadium in Baton Rogue, Hibbert revealed that his target for the meet was nowhere close to what he eventually unleashed.  “The mark that I came out here with was 17.4/17.5 at max,” he said. “When I saw the 17.8, I just said ‘Okay, that’s it for me today,’ It’s all about trusting the process. God has shown me in plenty ways that I am talented. I am obviously favored. I do put in the hard work, but I have to give this one to God because I don’t think there is any 18-year-old that does the stuff that I do.”

 Hibbert, who also set a World U20 and NCAA Indoor record of 17.54m this season, believes that he needs to stop putting limits on himself. “I am going to reset, refocus, get ready for regionals. I don’t even know if I’m going to peak until World Champs because I am not even at my peak right now and I am already close to 18m, so I am just going to go back to the drawing board, see what Coach Travis Geopfert says, just have fun and take it from there,” he said.

 The 18-year-old’s jump is six centimeters farther than the previous world lead of 17.81m set by Burkina Faso's Hugues Fabrice Zango on May 5, and is also a World U20, NCAA, and Facility record. Hibbert's jump is the second-best jump ever by a Jamaican, trailing James Beckford’s national record of 17.92m set in Odessa, Texas in May 1995, by a mere five centimeters.

Despite his success, Hibbert is remaining humble, stating, “That’s a mark amongst the greats. I am just an 18-year-old that started the event like three years ago, so, I don’t even know what to say. It’s still soaking in at this point.” However, his competitors will have to contend with the prodigious young athlete, who is likely to make his debut as not only a medal contender but a gold medal contender at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest.

Arkansas’s Jaydon Hibbert and Roje Stona as well as Texas A&M’s Lamara Distin all secured wins on the third and final day of the 2023 SEC Outdoor Championships at LSU on Saturday.

The 18-year-old Hibbert was easily the star of the day. The 2022 World Junior Champion produced an incredible personal best of 17.87m to take the Men’s triple jump crown ahead of Arkansas teammate Ryan Brown (16.43m) and Alabama's Christian Edwards (16.22m).

Hibbert opened the competition with a 17.02m effort before throwing down the biggest jump of his career so far in the second round. As he has done for most of the season to preserve his legs, he passed on his next four attempts.

Hibbert’s mark is also a new collegiate record, world lead and world junior record and puts him in a three-way tie for 13^th on the all-time list.

Earlier in the day, Stona, also of Arkansas, produced a personal best 68.64m, the second furthest throw in collegiate history, to win the Men’s discus ahead of teammate and countryman Ralford Mullings (62.00) and Alabama’s Alan de Falchi (61.82m).

Distin continued her unbeaten run in the high jump this season with a 1.91m clearance to win ahead of Georgia’s Elena Kulichenko (1.88m) and Tennessee’s Cheyla Scott (1.85m).

On the track, Arkansas’s Ackera Nugent ran a personal best 12.43 for second in the Women’s 100m hurdles behind LSU’s Alia Armstrong’s 12.40. Kentucky’s Masai Russell was third in 12.47.

Another Jamaican Arkansas athlete, Phillip Lemonious, was second in the Men’s 110m hurdles in 13.63 behind Tennessee’s Devon Brooks (13.53). Another Tennessee athlete, Cayman’s Rasheem Brown, was third in 13.64.

Olympic and World triple jump champion, Mike Conley Sr, has described Jamaican Arkansas freshman Jaydon Hibbert as “special” and said he was “born for the sport.”

Conley Sr, the 60-year-old Arkansas alum who won Olympic gold in 1992 in Barcelona with a wind-aided 18.17m jump as well as a World Championship title in Stuttgart with a 17.86m effort a year later, was speaking in an interview on his alma mater’s Instagram page on Saturday.

“He’s special. I got a chance to see him when they recruited him. I saw some video of him from the World Juniors and got a chance to meet him and talk to him. He’s a way better jumper than I ever was technique-wise. It took me almost a lifetime to look like he looks as a freshman so he’s a special guy,” said Conley Sr.

At those World Juniors in Cali in 2022, Hibbert produced a personal best and championship record 17.27m to take gold.

“It’s amazing. When I saw him at the juniors I just said ‘wow.’ For his form and technique to be advanced as it is, he was born to do it and he puts in the work on top of it. That’s usually the recipe for greatness,” said Conley Sr.

Hibbert has enjoyed an excellent debut season at Arkansas. The 18-year-old has, so far, gone unbeaten in three competitions indoors and two outdoors.

At the NCAA Indoor championships in Albuquerque in March, Hibbert made history with a leap of 17.54m, a new World Under-20 record, to win the title. Hibbert’s jump also broke Conley Sr’s collegiate record 17.40m.

Outdoors, he followed up a gold medal at the Carifta Games in Nassau on April 10 with a 17.17m effort to win at the LSU Invitational on April 29.

He is also a heavy favorite to win the title at the SEC Outdoor Championships which are currently being held at LSU.

“He seems humble, eager to learn and he works hard. Like I said, that’s a good recipe for success,” Conley Sr added.

Conley Sr’s personal best 17.87, done in June 1987, places him 13^th on the all-time list for the event.

Roja Stona and Akera Nugent each produced impressive wins at the LSU Invitational on Saturday. Meanwhile, Omar McLeod, who is attempting a comeback after missing out on the last two major championships, finished second in the 110m hurdles won by fellow Jamaican Phillip Lemonious.

Stona, who transferred from Clemson to Arkansas during the summer, threw a massive 67.02m to win the discus over compatriot and teammate Ralford Mullings, who hit a mark of 62.16m for second place.

Claudio Romero of LSU was a distance third with his best throw of 50.69m.

Stona’s previous best was 65.11m set in May 2022.

In the Women’s shot put, Lloydricia Cameron finished fourth with a season-best 16.90m, well below her lifetime best of 18.33m set in May 2021.

Georgia’s Anna da Silva won the event with a throw of 17.62m with Ole Miss’ Jalaan Davies the runner up with 17.51m.

Florida’s Alida Van Daalen was third with 17.45m.

Arkansas freshman Jaydon Hibbert was a winner once again in the triple with yet another effort over 17m. The NCAA and World U20 record holder, jumped 17.17m for an easy victory over the rest of the field that included his Arkansas teammates Carey McLeod and Wayne Pinnock who finished third and fourth with marks of 15.67m and 15.65m, respectively.

Alabama’s Christian Edwards was the closest to Hibbert, taking second place with 16.12m.

World championship silver medallist Shanieka Ricketts has been trying to find her best form this season. The reigning Commonwealth Games champion was well off her lifetime best of 14.98m but she didn’t need to be, winning in a season’s best of 14.06m.

No other competitor managed to soar beyond 14m as Tennessee’s Charisma Taylor’s 13.82m landed her second place while Florida’s Jasmine Moore took third with 13.77m.

On the track, Ackera Nugent celebrated her 21^st birthday with confidence-boosting win over the talented American Alia Armstrong.

Nugent, the World U20 60m record holder and 2023 NCAA Indoor 60m champion, clocked a season-best 12.52 to hold off Armstrong who ran 12.59 for second place.

Michelle Harrison of Athletics Canada was third in 12.93.

Arkansas’ Lemonious won a close race with McLeod, running 13.63 to edge the 2017 World Champion, who was timed in 13.67.

Pierre Lepage of Athletics Canada took third in 13.82.

For many years, Jamaica has been known in the track and field world mostly producing historically great sprinters.

Recently, however, the country has seen its success at the global level spread to many other disciplines in the sport such as the jumps and the throws.

President of the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA), Garth Gayle, is encouraged by this trend and hopes to see it continue.

“This all came about under the leadership of the late Howard Aris,” Gayle told SportsMax.TV at the launch of the Racers Grand Prix at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel on Tuesday.

“I was the honorary secretary at the time and I remember several of our executive meetings where he made it clear to all of us, in such simple terms, that there will come the day when other countries will challenge us successfully in the sprints,” Gayle said.

“He went on to say that sprinting is a base for many other disciplines in track and field and that we need to start to venture and provide training grounds for coaches and competitions for the athletes in the different disciplines. That is why we have seen the improvement in the throws and in the jumps. I believe it has done us well,” Gayle added.

Over a short period of time, Jamaica has seen the emergence of the likes of Tajay Gayle, Shanieka Ricketts and, more recently, Jaydon Hibbert among others in the jumps as well as names like Fedrick Dacres and Danniel Thomas-Dodd in the throws.

Gayle became Jamaica’s first ever long jump World Champion when he jumped a National Record 8.69m, the 20^th longest jump in history, to win gold at the 2019 World Championships in Doha.

Ricketts is a two-time World Championship silver medallist in the triple jump from Doha in 2019 and Eugene in 2022.

Jaydon Hibbert, who is only 18, won triple jump gold at the World Under-20 Championships in Cali in 2022 and, earlier this season, set a World Junior Record 17.54m to win at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Albuquerque.

We also saw the likes of Carey McLeod and Ackelia Smith win long jump medals at those same NCAA Indoor Championships.

Lamara Distin is undefeated this season in the high jump and broke her own National record earlier this season while, at last year’s World Under-20 Championships, another Jamaican, Brandon Pottinger, took home high jump gold.

In the throws, Dacres and Thomas-Dodd won silver medals in the discus and shot put, respectively, at the 2019 World Championships in Doha.

Gayle also outlined that clubs around the country have systems in place to ensure this trend continues.

“Our club systems are growing stronger and they too are of that similar mindset and we are seeing the benefits. GC Foster College must never be left out of the equation because they, in a similar way, are speaking that language.”

“We must continue to raise the bar. Jamaica has, without doubt, an abundance of sporting talent. We just need to continue to harness it and develop it,” he added.

Bouwahjgie Nkrumie, Jaydon Hibbert and Serena Cole headline the squad selected to represent Jamaica at the 50^th edition of the CARIFTA Games scheduled for April 8-10 in Nassau, Bahamas.

Nkrumie will compete in the 100m after winning the event in 10.19 at Jamaica’s CARIFTA Trials held at the National Stadium earlier this month.

The 19-year-old ran a national junior record 10.02 for 100m silver at the World Under-20 Championships in Cali last year, a race won in a world junior record 9.91 by Botswanan sensation Letsile Tebogo.

Hibbert, an 18-year-old freshman at Arkansas University, won the NCAA Indoor triple jump title in Albuquerque in March with a magnificent 17.54m, a World Junior Record. He also won gold at the World U-20 Championships last year in a meet record 17.27m.

Cole will compete in both the long jump and the 100m in Nassau. She won the 100m at the CARIFTA Trials in an impressive 11.18 and was third in the long jump with 5.84m. She was also a silver medallist at the World U-20 Championships last year, running 11.14 to finish behind countrywoman Tina Clayton.

The full team is as follows:

Female U-17: Natrece East, Tiana Marshall, Shanoya Douglas, Rosalee Gallimore, Kevongaye Fowler, Kededra Coombs, Bryana Davidson, Camoy Binger, Rhianna Lewis, Sashana Johnson, Shanniqua Williams, Asia Mckay, Sabrina Atkinson, Dionjah Shaw, Shemonique Hazle, Breana Brown, Alikay Reynolds, Abigail Campbell.

Female U20: Serena Cole, Alana Reid, Carleta Bernard, Rickiann Russell, Kacian Powell, Kishay Rowe, Rickeisha Simms, Jody-Ann Mitchell, Kaydeen Johnson, Habiba Harris, Alexis James, Tonyan Beckford, Alliah Baker, Jade-Ann Dawkins, Deijanae Bruce, Cedricka Williams, Abigail Martin, Britannia Johnson, Britannie Johnson.

Male U-17: Tramaine Todd, Khamani Gordon, Donte Mendez, Dontae Watson, Kenrick Sharpe, Nickecoy Bramwell, Rasheed Pryce, Joel Morgan, Delano Todd, Tyrone Lawson, Kahiem Carby, Shakir Lewis, DeAndre Gayle, Demarco Bennett, Euan Young, Courtney Kinglock, Michael Neil, Joseph Salmon, Javontae Smith, Ronaldo Anderson.

Male U-20: Bouwahjgie Nkrumie, De Andre Daley, Malique Smith Band, Javorne Dunkley, Delano Kennedy, Jasauna Dennis, Kemarrio Bygrave, Ainsley Brown, Ainsley Campbell, Shaquane Gordon, Demario Prince, Roshawn Clarke, Antonio Forbes, Royan Walters, Brandon Pottinger, Chavez Penn, Jaydon Hibbert, Kobe Lawrence, Shaiquan Dunn, Tyreese Ebanks.

Management team: Chef De Mission: Maulton Campbell, Manager: Richard Thompson, Assistant Manager: Richard Thompson, Assistant Manager: Desrine Anderson, Technical Leader: David Riley, Doctor: Dr. Jason Dawson, Coach: Keilando Gobourn, Coach: Dave Anderson, Coach: Demar Gayle, Coach: Richard Smith, Coach: Kamille Ellis, Coach: Jeremy Deslliser, Massage Therapist: Orville Crawford.

With his first and only jump, University of Arkansas freshman Jaydon Hibbert set a new World U20 record on his way to becoming this year's NCAA Division 1 Indoor National triple jump champion on Saturday.

The 18-year-old Hibbert only needed the sole effort to establish a mark of 17.54m, a new personal best for the 2023 SEC Field Athlete of the Year. The mark broke the meet record of 17.37m set by Florida's Marquis Dendy in 2015 as well the championship record of 17.50m established in 2015 by Charleston Southern's Charlie Simpkins in 1986. It was also a new Jamaican record.

Hibbert's closest rival was Salif Mane, a senior at Fairleigh Dickinson, whose best effort of 16.79m won him the silver medal while Owayne Owens, a junior at the University of Virginia leapt 16.69m for third.

Hibbert's Arkansas teammate Carey McLeod, who won the long jump with a national-record-equalling mark of 8.40m on Friday, finished sixth with a leap of 16.35m.

Arkansas freshman Jaydon Hibbert has been selected as the SEC Indoor Freshman Field Athlete of the Year.

Hibbert produced a winning leap of 17.10m to win the triple jump at the SEC Indoor Championships and was the only freshman to claim a field event victory. His winning mark leads the NCAA for the 2023 season and is the 14^th-best mark in collegiate history.

The teenaged Jamaican becomes the third Razorback to receive the accolade indoors, joining Nkosinza Balumbu (2006) and Andrew Irwin (2012), since the award was first presented in 2004.

Arkansas has also had three individuals receive SEC Freshman Runner of the Year – Chris Bilbrew (2008), Patrick Rono (2012), and Omar McLeod (2014).

Hibbert, the 2022 World U20 champion, recently became the youngest athlete to surpass 17m indoors as an 18-year-old and moved to No. 3 on the World U20 all-time list while improving his Jamaican indoor national U20 record.

It seems as if Julien Alfred sets a new personal best and national record every week.

On January 21, the 21-year-old St Lucian clocked 7.05 and then 7.02, then world-leading times at the Martin Luther King Invitational in New Mexico.

She then set a new personal best and national record of 22.56 over 200m, also in New Mexico on Friday, February 3 at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic.

A day later, on Saturday, she blazed to a new 60m record lowering her own mark to 7.00, the second fastest time in the world this year behind Aleia Hobbs’ 6.98.

The Texas Longhorn senior was miles ahead of Samira Mood of the University of Southern California (USC) who ran a creditable 7.19 and LSU Junior Favour Ofili 7.21.

Aldred’s Texas teammate Kevona Davis was fourth in 7.22.

Several other Caribbean athletes excelled at the two-day meet that began on Friday.

Lamara Distin, the NCAA champion established a new Jamaica national indoor record of 1.94m to easily take gold on Friday. Her Texas A&M teammate Bara Sajdokavic took the runner-up spot with her clearance of 1.87m.

LSU’s Morgan Small was third with 1.81m.

Wayne Pinnock, who transferred from Tennessee to Arkansas during the summer, was an easy winner of the Men’s Long Jump soaring out to a mark of 8.10m.

Kelsey Daniel of New Mexico Junior College was next best with his effort of 7.99m while Texas freshman Solomon Washington was third with 7.85m.

World U20 champion Jaydon Hibbert, a freshman at the University of Arkansas, demonstrated his class with two jumps of 16.73m to win the triple jump competition.

His nearest rival was Russell Robinson of Miami, who leapt out to 16.33m. LSU’s Apalos Edwards secured third place with his best effort of 16.13m.

Texas Longhorn Ackelia Smith of Jamaica produced a mark of 13.92m to win the women’s event ahead of Texas Christian University’s Grace Anigbata (13.24m) and Miami’s Ashley Moore (12.97m).

Meanwhile, Omar McLeod, who was returned to Arkansas to train after failed campaigns over the past two seasons, finished second in the 60m hurdles.

The 2016 Olympic champion clocked 7.61 behind USC’s Omotade Ojora, who ran 7.58 for the win. Texas Tech’s Caleb Dean was third in 7.62,

Demisha Roswell had to settle for second place in the women’s event in a close battle with LSU Junior Leah Phillips, who won in 8.02.

The Texas Tech senior crossed the line in 8.03.

Wisconsin’s Destiny Huven was third in 8.08.

Jamaica’s Jaydon Hibbert is among the five nominees for World Athletics’ 2022 Men’s Rising Star Award.