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• LSU's Lyston, Minnesota's Augustine win sprint doubles at LSU Alumni Gold meet; Gardiner wins 400m

  Louisiana State University sophomore Brianna Lyston, Minnesota junior Devin Augustine and Olympic and World 400m champion Steven Gardiner were among the Caribbean winners at Saturday’s LSU Alumni Gold meet in Baton Rouge.

  Lyston produced one of the day’s most impressive performances, winning the college 100m in 10.84, a time that would’ve been a new personal best if not for a 2.2 m/s tail wind.

  Minnesota’s Odell Frye (11.19) and Victory Godah (11.28) were second and third.

  This was Lyston’s second time already this season going sub-11 seconds. At the Battle of the Bayou on March 30, she turned heads with an also wind-aided 10.87 (2.6m/s).

  The former St. Jago High and Hydel High standout also, earlier this season, became the SEC and NCAA Indoor 60m champion with times of 7.08 and 7.03, respectively.

  Lyston then returned to win the 200m in 22.35 (2.8m/s) ahead of Southern Miss’s Jada McDougle (23.061) and LSU’s Aniyah Bigam (23.064).

  Trinidadian Minnesota junior Devin Augustine was also impressive in winning the sprint double.

  He first won the 100m in 10.02 (2.2 m/s) ahead of LSU’s Da’Marcus Fleming (10.03) and 2024 Carifta Games U-20 100m silver medallist Jaiden Reid (10.12).

  Augustine then ran 20.98 into a -3.0 m/s wind to win the 200m ahead of teammate Charles Godfred (21.41) and Meridan Community College’s Keon Buck (21.46).

  Elsewhere on Saturday, Bahamian 400m legend Steven Gardiner produced 44.45 to comfortably win his 400m season opener ahead of American Vernon Norwood (44.94) and British World Championship silver medallist Matthew Hudson-Smith (45.00).

• Paulino opens season with 50.08 to win 400m in Xiamen; Charlton narrowly beaten by Camacho-Quinn in 100m hurdles

  The Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino kicked off her 2024 season with a comfortable win in the women’s 400m at the season’s opening Diamond League meet in Xiamen on Saturday.

  Paulino, the reigning World champion, ran an easy 50.08 to take the win over Poland’s Natalia Kaczmarek (50.29) and the USA’s Britton Wilson (51.26). Barbadian two-time World Championship bronze medallist Sada Williams was fourth in 51.97.

  Paulino, who is developing an impressive level of dominance in the event, last lost a 400m race on July 16 last year when she was third at the Silesia Diamond League.

  Since then, the 27-year-old has won six races in a row. She was victorious in all three of her individual races at last year’s World Championships in Budapest before winning at both the 2023 Xiamen Diamond League and Prefontaine Classic, which also served as the 2023 Diamond League Final.

  The women’s 100m hurdles saw Bahamian newly crowned World Indoor 60m hurdles champion and world record holder Devynne Charlton be narrowly beaten by reigning Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn.

  

  Charlton, as is customary with someone strong in the 60m hurdles, got her usual bullet start but was unable to hold off the fast-finishing Camacho-Quinn in the end. The Puerto Rican’s winning time was a meet record 12.45 while Charlton’s time was 12.49 in second.

  France’s Cyrena Samba-Mayela, who took silver behind Charlton at this year’s World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, ran a personal best and national record 12.55 in third.

  Jamaican two-time World champion Danielle Williams was fourth in a season’s best 12.56.

  The men’s sprint hurdles saw reigning Olympic champion Hansle Parchment and Orlando Bennett run 13.33 and 13.58 for sixth and eighth, respectively.

  American Daniel Roberts took the win in 13.11 ahead of countryman Cordell Tinch (13.16) and Japan’s Shunsuke Izumiya (13.17).

  In the meet’s final race, Jamaican World Indoor bronze medallist Ackeem Blake ran a season’s best 10.20 for third in the men’s 100m. American 2019 World champion Christian Coleman took the win in 10.13 while countryman Fred Kerley, the 2022 World champion, ran 10.17 for second. Jamaica's reigning national champion Rohan Watson ran a season's best 10.27 in fourth.

• Jackson imparts knowlege, motivation to young Dominican sensation Etienne

  If ever rising Dominican sprint sensation Kerelle Etienne required an extra bit of motivation to keep pushing in her budding career, she would have received it during a recent sit down with Jamaica's World and Olympic medallist Shericka Jackson.

  Jackson, one of the world's most prominent athletes, took the time to mentor Etienne, a 15-year-old talent hailing from Bagatele, who attends Edwin Allen High School, situated in central Jamaica.

  Currently the fifth fastest woman of all time over 100 metres, and the fastest woman alive and second fastest woman in history over 200m, the decorated Jackson shared insight and encouragement with Etienne, as she motivated the young sensation to continue striving for greatness.

  Etienne, who is supported by a scholarship from the school, as well as the Dominica Olympic Committee and Cheryl Rolle, boasts big dreams, and has already put her immense potential on display when she secured a fourth-place finish in a brisk11.85 seconds, as the recent 51st Carifta Games in Grenada.

  Prior to that, Etienne contributed valuable points to Edwin Allen's tally which saw them reclaim the girls' title at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys' and Girls' Athletics Championship at Jamaica's National Stadium.

  While pointing out that training in Jamaica is more difficult than it is in Dominica, Etienne has adapted well under the guidance of Michael Dyke.

  "The training here in Jamaica is much harder than in my country, but I am coping well with it as I really want to make my friends and family proud back home," Etienne said in a recent interview.

  "It feels so good competing on this (synthetic) type of track as all our competition back home is done on grass. Edwin Allen High has been my dream school in Jamaica. I kept in touch with their performances on YouTube and I am really happy to be a member of the team now," she added.