Clayton Brown among J'cans impressing on US Circuit

A personal best by former Jamaica College jumper Clayton Brown was the best Jamaican performance of a busy weekend on the US college track and field circuit. Brown fought his way over a bar set at 2.24m in Florida, while compatriots Adrian Riley, Jazmine Fray, and Shadae Lawrence produced sparks elsewhere.

Brown, the 2014 World Junior finalist, was at home on the campus of the University of Florida when he cleared 2.24m on the third attempt to star at the Tom Jones Memorial. At the same venue, 2014 Commonwealth Games 400m hurdles finalist Annsert Whyte won his pet event in 49.36 seconds.

World 100m champion Tori Bowie launched her 2018 sprint campaign with a fast win. The American took the 100m in 11.04 seconds, with Jamaican Jura Levy fifth in 11.30 seconds.

Brown's namesake, Janeek, starred on her home track at the University of Arkansas. The former Wolmerian won the 100m hurdles in 13.01 seconds and stepped to third in the flat 100m with a time of 11.19 seconds at the McDonnell Invitational. Both efforts had substantial aiding winds, with readings of 3.5 and 5.8m per second, respectively.

The allowable limit is 2m per second.

A 2.1m wind reading took the shine off a time of 20.39 seconds clocked in the 200m sprint by World 400m finalist Nathon Allen at the Auburn Tiger Classic. Nevertheless, Allen and his Auburn Jamaican crew all marked the day with good runs. Former Auburn great and Olympic 100m runner-up Kerron Stewart edged current Auburn student-athlete Natalliah Whyte 11.21 to 11.26 seconds in the 100m as both were helped along by 2.6m per second of breeze. Akeem Bloomfield clocked 46.17 seconds to win the 400m, and Jonelle Smith sprinted to victory in the 200m in 23.37 seconds. That, too, had an aiding wind over the allowable limit.

Riley, a 2013 decathlon winner at Boys and Girls' Championships for Calabar High, was the busiest Jamaican at the Texas Invitational. Now at the University of Texas, San Antonio, Riley soared 7.75m in the long jump with a 2.2m wind but also had a legal mark of 7.74m. He also high-jumped 1.97m and ran the 4x400m men's relay.

The Lawrence twins, Shadae and Shardia, produced a pair of wins for Kansas State University at the same event. Shadae took the discus event with a mark of 58.68m, and her sister, who was her teammate at Vere Technical and Hydel High, spanned 13.24m in the triple jump.