JAMAICANS Dejanea Oakley, Shenese Walker and Tyrice Taylor registered wins at the weekend in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Indoor Track and Field Championships, which was held in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
National representative Oakley picked up a big win in the 400m. The former Clarendon College athlete, competing for the University of Georgia, was in brilliant form in the event, taking the victory in a personal-best and world-leading 49.47 seconds. She displaced former world leader Amber Anning of Great Britain, who clocked 50.51 earlier this season. Another Jamaican in the event, Oakley’s teammate Shaquane Foote, finished fifth in a personal-best 51.13.
Shenese Walker, competing for Florida State University, continued her hot form in the 60 metres, winning in 7.08 seconds and relegating Adeajah Hodge of the University of Georgia into second place in 7.15. Hodge, out of the British Virgin Islands, went on to capture the 200m in a world-leading 22.22 seconds. Gabrielle Matthews of Florida State, a Queen’s School past student, took second in a personal-best 22.55.
Tyrice Taylor, formerly of Enid Bennett High School, won the men’s 800m in a personal-best 1:46.00 while representing the University of Arkansas. Taylor’s teammate, Rivaldo Marshall, a former Calabar High athlete, took the runner-up spot in 1:46.12.
There were three other top-three finishes at the meet for Jamaican athletes, with two coming in field events. Former Calabar High thrower Kobe Lawrence, representing the University of Oregon, produced a personal best of 20.50 metres in the shot put, while former St Jago High jumper Shantae Foreman, competing for Clemson University, had a distance of 13.80 metres in the women’s triple jump.
There was also a third-place finish for former St Jago High sprint hurdler Demario Prince in the men’s 60m hurdles final. The Baylor University athlete clocked 7.55 seconds.
