Briana Williams established a new national U20 100m record in Florida earlier today and said she plans to run faster tomorrow when she lines up against faster sprinters English Gardener, Veronica Campbell-Brown and Tynia Gaither at the Duval County Challenge in Jacksonville.
The 19-year-old Williams, who set a national U20 record when she ran 11.02 in New Mexico in June 2019, clocked 11.01 at the JAC Summer Open, running at what she said was about 95 per cent effort, as she was saving herself for Monday’s races.
If ratified, the time run with a trailing wind of 1.4m/s would eclipse her previous mark from 2019.
A fast time was always on the cards as in the preliminary round, the 2018 World U20 100m champion, cruised to a comfortable victory in 11.19.
“The first, the preliminary, was good; just working on my start, how low I am coming out of my drive phase, and then most importantly, high knees, don’t break form and just run to the line,” she said of her first run since she ran 11.09 and 11.15 at the Miramar South Florida Invitational on May 9.
She revealed that she was still not all out at her 11.01 run as this was the ‘semi-final’ before Monday’s races at Hodges Stadium in North Florida.
“I didn’t want to go all out, that’s for tomorrow. I was about 95 per cent,” she said. “Glad to have run 11.01 not trying too much but giving enough to where I could set a national junior record and it felt great. My form was great. I liked it.”
She said she was expecting tough competition on Monday but she wants to go out get a new personal best and finish healthy.
Leighton Levy is a journalist with 28 years’ experience covering crime, entertainment, and sports. He joined the staff at SportsMax.TV as a content editor two years ago and is enjoying the experience of developing sports content and new ideas. At SportsMax.tv he is pursuing his true passion - sports.
Briana Williams adapts to new training regimen with coach John Smith in pursuit of Olympic dream
Jamaica's Olympic relay gold medalist, Briana Williams, is adjusting to a new training program under the guidance of veteran coach John Smith in California while remaining steadfast in her goal of securing a spot on Jamaica's team for the Paris Olympic Games this summer.
Williams encountered a challenging season in 2023, contending with injuries after transitioning from Coach Ato Boldon in Miramar, Florida to Titans International in Jamaica, where she was coached by Gregory Little and Michael Frater. Following the split of her coaches late in 2023, Williams continued under Coach Frater until making the decision to join Coach John Smith's program in March this year.
Smith, who currently coaches Marie Jose Ta Lou Smith, the fastest woman from Africa and a two-time World Championship silver medalist, brings a wealth of expertise to Williams' training regimen. Ta Lou Smith provided a glimpse of what Williams could become by winning the 100m in 10.91 at the Jamaica Athletics Invitational, where Williams achieved a season's best of 11.39, finishing seventh.
The time reflected a significant improvement on her 11.54 season opener at the Occidental Invitational in Los Angeles just over a week ago.
Reflecting on her transition to Coach Smith's program, Williams emphasized her commitment to the process and the progress she's making.
"Training, I am taking it day by day. I’m learning new things; it’s a new program so I’m getting adjusted every day, loving the progress," Williams shared post-race. "I’m just taking my time, we have six weeks to go to trials so I want to get everything in, start running every week, and just getting race ready, taking it one day at a time to prepare and make the team."
Williams also highlighted the positive impact of training alongside Marie Jose Ta Lou Smith and the supportive group dynamics.
"It’s the best. I have a great group, great training, great coach. Marie, I learn so much from her and I really appreciate her as a teammate and all the rest of my teammates, and I really do adore the group," Williams commented on her training environment.
Regarding the transition to Coach John Smith, who was once the coach of her former mentor Ato Boldon, Williams expressed enthusiasm for the training regimen and the mentorship she receives.
"It’s amazing! The workouts are not too different. John is like the guru of track and field, so it’s really great learning from him and I learn a lot from him; he makes me strong mentally and physically as well," Williams remarked.
Despite the recent race result, Williams remains focused on the journey ahead, acknowledging the challenges of adapting to a new program mid-season.
"It wasn’t my best race, but I was just working on the things that I need to work on. Getting into a new program in the middle of the season is not easy but it’s what’s best for me right now so I am just taking it one race at a time," she concluded.
The 22-year-old Williams is expecting to be racing over 200m next week in Los Angeles.
Ricketts opens season with 14.50m to win triple jump at Jamaica Athletics Invitational
Jamaica’s Shanieka Ricketts provided her home fans with a solid performance to win the women’s triple jump at the inaugural Jamaica Athletics Invitational at the National Stadium in Kingston on Saturday.
The two-time World Championships silver medallist produced a best jump of 14.50m on her first attempt that proved to be enough to win in the end.
American Jasmine Moore had a best jump of 14.28m for second while Dominican World Indoor Champion Thea Lafond jumped 14.22m in the sixth and final round to clinch third.
“I feel exceptional. I usually get started with my season much earlier but this year we decided to get a few things corrected before coming into competition,” Ricketts said following the competition.
“Competing with world class athletes who have been doing well indoors as well really pushed me and gave me a good implication of where I’m at this season,” she added.
The 2022 Commonwealth Champion also spoke on competing in Jamaica.
“It’s always a pleasure to compete in Kingston. Usually, I try to do a meet here before going overseas to compete in the Diamond League. The crowd has warmed up to the jumps because of how well I’ve been doing overseas over the years. I’m always grateful for the support,” she said.
Great Britain’s Hughes, Asher-Smith get 200m victories at Jamaica Athletics Invitational
Great Britain’s Zharnel Hughes and Dina Asher-Smith took victories in the men’s and women’s 200m events at the inaugural Jamaica Athletics Invitational at the National Stadium in Kingston on Saturday.
Hughes, a bronze medallist in the 100m at last year’s World Championships in Budapest, produced a season’s best 19.96 to win ahead of American Fred Kerley (20.17) and France’s Pablo Mateo (20.20).
“I feel really good. I think this is my second 200m race of the season. When I opened up I wasn’t ready so tonight I was just testing out the waters. We’re starting to sharpen up but not as much because it’s a long season,” Hughes said after the race.
“To run 19.96 now, I’m very happy. I just need to stay healthy and continue to execute my races accordingly and everything will be okay,” he added.
2019 World Champion Asher-Smith narrowly won the women’s event in 22.51 ahead of the Ivory Coast’s Jessika Gbai (22.53) with Jamaica’s Lanae-Tava Thomas running 22.84 for third.
Asher-Smith says she was hoping for a quicker time and has some things to work on.
“I’m in really good shape so I was hoping to get a quicker time today. Clearly, I’ve got some stuff that I’ve got to work on so I’m going to go back to Austin and work on them but I’m happy to have won here in Jamaica,” she said.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
