Jamaicans line up for NCAA final run-in

THE NATIONAL Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division 1 Track and Field Outdoor Championships is just four weeks away and Jamaican athletes are positioning themselves well for this with several of them ranked in the top 10 in their events. The Championships will be held from June 7-10 at the Mike A Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas.

Among the women, Lamara Distin the former Rusea’s, Vere Technical and Hydel High standout stands tall in the high jump.

Distin, who last year struck gold for Jamaica at the Commonwealth Games and who is in her final year at Texas A&M University is number one in the event with a season’s best of 1.95 metres.

Sprint hurdler Ackera Nugent, the former Excelsior High School hurdler, who now attends the University of Arkansas, is second in the women’s 100-metre hurdles, her 12.52-second season’s best, just behind leader Massai Russell of the University of Kentucky, with 12.36. Former Vere Technical hurdler, Demisha Roswell of Texas Technical University is at number eight with 12.84 seconds.

Having her best season at the collegiate level since her departure from Edwin Allen High School, Kevona Davis, who now attends the University of Texas, Austin, is well placed in both the 100 and 200 metres. She is fourth in the 100 metres with 10.93 seconds and fifth in the 200 metres with 22.47 seconds. Her teammate, Ackelia Smith, also formerly of Edwin Allen, is fifth in the triple jump with 13.84 metres and sixth in the long jump with 6.57 metres.

Former Vere Technical quarter miler, Nickeisha Pryce and Edwin Allen’s Lashana Graham are 10th in their respective events.

Pryce out of the University of Arkansas has a best of 51.47 seconds in the 400 metres while Graham, of Clemson University, has a best of 56 54 seconds over the 400-metre hurdles.

Three Jamaicans find themselves top in their respective events among the men, with former Kingston College High standouts, Jaydon Hibbert leading the way in the triple jump and Tarese Rhoden on top in the 800 metres. Former Buff Bay High jumper, Romaine Beckford, leads the high jump.

It has been a dream start for first-year University of Arkansas student, Hibbert, the World Under-20 and NCAA indoor triple jump champion. His season’s best of 17.17 metres has him atop the triple jump rankings.

Former Cornwall College jumper, Owayne Evans, out of the University of Virginia, is at number six with 16.53 metres.

Beckford out of the University of South Florida leads his peers in the high jump with a season’s best of 2.24 metres.

Rhoden, who has been having an exceptional season so far for Clemson University, leads the NCAA pack in the Men’s 800 metres with a best of one minute, 46.20 seconds.

Another Kingston College standout in Roje Stona, representing the University of Arkansas, is holding his own in the throws, ranked number two in the discus with a best of 67.02 metres and seventh in the shot put with 20.08 metres.

Former Kingston College jumpers, Wayne Pinnock and Carey McLeod, who are teammates at the University of Arkansas, are fourth and sixth, respectively, in the long jump with 8.01 and 7.98 metres.