Good start for Danielle Williams, Jamaicans at Clemson
Published:Wednesday | January 12, 2022 | 12:11 AMHubert Lawrence/Gleaner Writer
DANIELLE WILLIAMS, the 2015 World 100-metre hurdles champion, showed her fitness in an over distance race on January 8 in South Carolina. Running over 300 metres at the Orange and Purple Elite meet on the campus of Clemson University, Williams scooted home in 38.57 seconds.
The victory was a promising start to a season which has the World Championships on the horizon in Eugene, Oregon, this July.
Williams, who won a Boys and Girls’ Championships Class 2 100/200/100 hurdles triple in 2010, was third in Doha at the last World Championships in 2019.
Her triumph was one of six by Jamaicans at the meet, Jeanine Williams, LaFranz Campbell, Daniel Cope, Tarees Rhoden and Roje Stona all getting the sweet taste of success.
Second last year in the NCAA Championships with the discus, Stona beat fellow Jamaican and Clemson University teammate Zico Campbell in the shot put 18.31 metres to 17.67. La Franz Campbell led another all-Clemson, all-Jamaican 1-2, this time in the 60-metre hurdles. Campbell stepped to a time of 7.85 seconds ahead of Dashinelle Dyer, 8.01.
Dyer, a versatile sprinter and hurdler during his days at STETHS, also did the 300 metres and clocked 34.70 seconds to secure another runner-up position.
Jeanine Williams, the former Immaculate Conception and Georgia Tech stalwart, took the women’s 60-metre hurdles. Williams, silver medallist in the 100-metre hurdles at the 2018 Athletics World Cup, sped home in 8.24 seconds.
Clemson newcomers Cope and Rhoden completed a fine night for Jamaica. Cope won the weight throw with a spin of 19.33 metres in a series with two additional efforts past the 19-metre line. Rhoden won the 600-metre by a city block in 1 minute 17.81 seconds. That’s the fastest time over the distance in Clemson indoor track and field history.
The performances by Campbell, Dyer, Rhoden, Stona and the rest of the Clemson team left Programme Director Mark Elliot, himself a Jamaican, in a positive mood.
“For the first meet coming back from break, it’s nice to see the depth we have available,” he said in an interview posted on the Clemson track and field website.
“It’s the first time in a while that we have seen strong performances across the board and there were some national-level performances, which is what we are looking for,” remarked the man who has coached Natoya Goule to World and Olympic finals in the women’s 800 metres.
Two other Jamaicans helped to broaden Elliot’s smile. Danielle Sloley finished second in the shot put with a distance of 14.52 metres and Marie Forbes did likewise with a mark of 18.91 metres in the women’s weight throw.