As the NCAA Championships quickly approach with several Caymanians scheduled to compete, the Compass has put together a list of standout swimmers and track-and-fielders who secured records, personal bests and medals earlier this month throughout various championships.
Athletics
Aaliyannah Anderson, a sophomore at Lincoln University, raced in both the 60m dash and 60m hurdles during the GLVC Conference Championships.
She finished her 60m final in 7.83 seconds, placing seventh, but it was the 60m hurdles that turned heads for the highly regarded sprinter.
She finished her prelims in a season best time of 8.70 seconds – her fastest this year. She went on to place second in the final.
Florida State junior Jaden Francis competed at the ACC Indoor Track & Field Championships, where she made strides in the 800m, clocking 2:07.60 – a new personal best and a 6.28 second improvement from her race two weeks prior.
Davonte Howell was out at the 2025 SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships. The University of Tennessee freshman equalled his season-best time of 6.63 second over 60m in the prelims.
At the same event, breakout sprinting star Jaiden Reid, a sophomore at Louisiana State University, finished his 200m final third overall to earn bronze, with a personal best time of 20.27 seconds.
That performance secured his spot at the 2025 NCAAs and placed him as the second fastest 200m sprinter in LSU history, and ranked him fourth in the US and fifth in the world for the season.
Andrew Stone, Cayman’s current top long-jumper, competed at the NJCAA Championships, where he made a leap of 7.52 metres – a season best.
That performance moved Stone up to 21 in the world and third in the North American, Central American and Caribbean region.
Swimmers
Tom Ferguson also competed at the NJCAA championships, making his mark in the pool. Ferguson recorded five personal best times throughout the event, a season best and a couple of medals for his efforts.
His standout race was the 100-yard individual medley, where he took gold in a personal best time of 50.35 seconds.
Over at the Western Athletic Conference Championships, Kyra Rabess claimed personal best times and medals of her own. She competed in six events for the University of Northern Colorado including the 200yd free, where she recorded her fastest time yet.
Rabess finished the prelims in 1:49.20, for a season best. However, she lowered that time later that day, setting a new best for herself at 1:48.89 to win bronze.
The SEC Swimming Championships brought out the best in the Crooks siblings. Two-time Olympian Jillian Crooks earned her bid to the NCAA Championships after a 21.91 effort in the 50yd freestyle.
That time placed Jillian, a freshman at the University of Tennessee, ninth in Lady Vol history and tied for 28th going into the NCAAs, where she will also contest the 200 free relay – the same event in which she recently claimed bronze at the SECs.
Her brother, two-time world champion Jordan Crooks, also went on a tear during the SEC championships. Of the many records he set during that event, his performance in the 50 free topped them all.
Jordan broke his own SEC meet record in the 50 to etch his name onto the best-to-ever-do-it list once again.
He blasted his way to 17.85 to defend his title in the individual event – which solidified his four-for-four, for that SEC event, having won in his freshman, sophomore, junior and now senior year.
