Ackera Nugent storms to victory at Aggie Invitational in second fastest NCAA time this year

By January 24, 2021

World U18 100m hurdles record holder set a new personal best while winning the 60m hurdles at the Aggie Invitational in Bryan-College Station in Texas on Saturday.

Nugent, a freshman at Baylor University, clocked 8.08s to turn the tables on Texas A&M’s Kaylah Robinson who had beat her in the preliminaries.  She qualified for the finals with a then-season best 8.22 before running away from the field in the finals with the time that ranks No. 2 in the NCAA and Big 12.

"I thought Ackera was definitely the highlight," said head coach Todd Harbour. "That's the number two time in the nation right now, so that was outstanding for her."

Robinson clocked 8.26 while Naomi Taylor of Houston was third in 8.29.

Nugent’s winning time was within 0.01s or the meet record of 8.07 set by Kendell Williams in 2017. It also makes the former Excelsior High School standout, the third-fastest Jamaican junior behind Brittany Anderson (8.02) and Shermaine Williams (8.07). It was also tied for the fourth-fastest time in the world this year.

Nugent’s performance capped another weekend of standout performances from Jamaican athletes on the US Collegiate circuit as Damion Thomas was a convincing winner in the 60m hurdles at the Wooopig Classic in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

The 2018 U20 world champion, a senior at Louisiana State University clocked 7.71 to blow away the field winning by 0.16 over Carl Elliott of Arkansas who clocked 7.87 for the silver medal. Tai Brown of the University of Kentucky ran 7.94 for third.

Meanwhile, in the 200m for women, Kevona Davis rebounded from her false start at the Corky Classic at Texas Tech, a week ago, to run 23.26 to win her section and finish second-place finish overall behind her Texas teammate Kynnedy Flannel, who won her section in 23.09.

Over at the Hokie Invitational in Virginia, Carey McLeod ram 6.78s for third in the 60m dash won by Sterling Warner of Louisville in 6.69s. Cole Beck of Virginia Tech was second in 6.71.

 

Leighton Levy

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.

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