As the 2023 track and field season draws near to a close, Caribbean athletes continued to showcase their excellence at the in Europe where sprinters Natasha Morrison and Oblique Seville emerged victorious in the 100m dash while Rusheen McDonald topped the podium in the 400m dash at the 2023 Palio Citta' della Quercia Rovereto in Italy on Wednesday.
During the entertaining meet, Shanieka Ricketts also produced a near-season-best effort to win the women’s triple jump over fellow Caribbean star Thea LaFond.
Morrison, a member of Jamaica’s silver medal winning 4x100m relay at the recent World Athletics Championships in Budapest, won a closely contested 100m dash in a new meet record of 11.00. She managed to outlast Americans Twanisha Terry, who clocked in at 11.06 for second place with Gina Bass of Gambia close behind in 11.08.
Briana Williams was fifth in 11.22.
Seville won the men’s equivalent in 10 seconds flat over Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala, who ran 10.15. Mouhamadou Fall of France was a close third in 10.22. Michael Campbell finished fourth in 10.29 with Jamaican champion Rohan Watson farther back in seventh in a time of 10.45.
Rusheen McDonald, the fastest Jamaica in the 400m this year at 44.03, won the 400m in a close finish with Germany’s Manuel Sanders. The Jamaican ran 45.46 while just managing to hold off the German, who a metre behind in 45.53.
South Africa’s Zakithi Nene was not far behind in third in 45.69.
The women’s triple jump featured Ricketts and LaFond, who produced season bests 14.93 and 14.90 for were fourth and fifth, respectively, at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest. They went at it again in Rovereto with the Jamaican once again coming out ahead.
She produced a jump of 14.92m to take victory with the Dominican darling finishing second with a 14.67m effort.
The two women were miles ahead of the rest of the field as Dovile Kilty finished third with a season-best 14.04m.
Amoi Brown ran 12.85 to finish second in the 100m hurdles. Ireland’s Sarah Lavin claimed victory in 12.76 with Taliyah Brooks of the USA taking third in 12.91.
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.
Excelsior leads Jamaican 1-2-3 in Championship of America High School Boys 4x100m at Penn Relays
Excelsior High emerged victorious in the Championship of America High School Boys 4x100m on the third and final day at the 128th Penn Relays at Franklin Field in Philadelphia on Saturday.
Their quartet of Ryeem Walker, Damor Miller, Malike Nugent and Lennon Green combined to run 40.45 to secure the school’s first win in the event since 1967.
Kingston College (Daniel Clarke, Yourie Lawrence-Clarke, Nyrone Wade, Marcinho Rose) were second in 40.53 and Herbert Morrison (Ky-Mani Hemmings, Tavaine Stewart, Chance Segree, De Andre Daley) completed a Jamaican 1-2-3 with 40.56 in third.
Smith produces season’s best to win long jump at Texas Invitational
Texas junior Ackelia Smith produced an NCAA leading performance to take top spot on day one of the Texas Invitational at the Mike A. Myers Stadium on Friday.
The 22-year-old reigning NCAA champion produced a season’s best 7.10m, her first jump over 7m this season, to win ahead of Trinidadian Puma athlete Tyra Gittens (6.72m) and UTSA’s Ida Breigan (6.65m).
This is a welcome return to form for Smith who suffered a torn hamstring at the NCAA Indoor Championships in early March.
Smith was Jamaica’s national champion in the long jump in 2022 and was a finalist in both the long and triple jump at that year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Paulino extends 400m winning streak to seven in Shanghai
Dom Rep’s Marileidy Paulino followed up her triumph at the season’s Diamond League opener in Xiamen last week with another victory at the Shanghai Diamond League on Saturday.
The reigning World champion produced 50.89 to win ahead of American Talitha Diggs who ran 51.77 and Bajan two-time World Championship bronze medallist Sada Williams who ran 52.00 in third.
Paulino’s winning streak in the 400m has now stretched to seven races.
It was déjà vu in the women’s 100m hurdles as reigning Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho Quinn just pipped World Indoor 60m hurdles champion and world record holder Devynne Charlton on the line, just as it played out in Xiamen last week.
Camacho-Quinn ran 12.63 compered to Charlton’s 12.64. Two-time World champion Danielle Williams was third in 12.74.
The men’s 110m hurdles saw American Daniel Roberts get his second win in a row to kick off the Diamond League season. His winning time was 13.12, comfortably ahead of Japan’s Shunsuke Izumiya (13.23) and Olympic champion Hansle Parchment’s season’s best 13.26.
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