60M

Nugent was able to get through three rounds of the women’s 60m on her way to victory.

First, she ran 7.38 to get through the first qualifying round before running 7.34 in the preliminaries to advance to the final. She was the fastest qualifier from both rounds.

The 2023 World Championship 100m hurdles finalist then produced 7.35 to narrowly outrun American Jada Baylark who was second in 7.36.

Arkansas senior Rosie Effiong ran 7.45 for third, the same time as a pair of Jamaicans, Louisiana Tech freshman Tonie-Ann Forbes and Arkansas junior Joanne Reid, in fourth and fifth.

Effiong and Reid were also the top two finishers in the 200m in 23.17 and 23.44, respectively. Their schoolmate Rachel Glenn ran 23.52 in third.

On the men’s side, Barbadian Louisiana Tech junior Julian Forde ran 6.74 to win ahead of Texas A&M-Commerce sophomore Ibrahim Fuseini (6.75) and Little Rock freshman Gabriel Torres (6.77).

Moving to the 800m where St. Vincent & the Grenadines’ Shafiqua Maloney ran 2:02.70 to win ahead of the USA’s Raevyn Rogers (2:03.73) and Arkansas senior Amber Anning (2:05.05).

According to reports from CVM Sports, reigning Olympic 100m silver medalist Kishane Thompson will compete at the World Indoor Championships set for March 21-23 in Nanjing, China.

Nugent, who holds the U20 60m world record of 7.92, stormed to a personal best 7.81 to win the silver medal behind NCAA record holder Masai Russell, who took gold in 7.77s.

The winning time was just outside Russell’s collegiate record of 7.75 run earlier in the season.

Russell, a senior at Kentucky, broke the previous meet record of 7.89 set by LSU’s Tonea Marshall in 2020 and facilities record of 7.79 that had been held by Clemson’s Briana Rollins since 2013.

Nugent, who was also under the previous meet record, eclipsed her previous best of 7.88 set in January.

Tennessee’s Charisma Taylor ran 8.03 for the bronze medal.

Nugent would have gone into the hurdles final with a boost in confidence after winning the bronze medal in the 60m dash in a personal best of 7.20, finishing just behind silver-medallist Georgia’s Kaila Jackson who clocked 7.17.

Tennessee’s Jacious Sears ran a personal best 7.11 to win the gold medal.

Arkansas’ women topped the table with 130.5 points. Florida was second with 84 while Tennessee finished third with 56.33 points.

Alabama and Ole Miss shared fourth place with 54 points each.

Meanwhile, Arkansas' men also wrapped up the men's title scoring 102.25 points, some of which were contributed by Clemson's Roje Stona.

The former St Jago thrower hit a brand new personal best of 19.96m that won him the bronze medal in the men's shot put.

The top three men all produced personal bests as silver-medallist Jordan West of Arkansas hit his best throw ever of 20.29m. 

The winner, John Meyer of LSU, had the winning mark of 20.37m.

Florida finished second in the men's standings with 73 points while Alabama's 63 points put them third.

Georgia (59) and Tennessee (54) rounded out the top five.

The 23-year-old, who claimed World Championship silver in Budapest last year, won on Friday with a personal best and world leading 8.40m, equaling the Jamaican indoor record set by Carey McLeod last year.

Pinnock’s record-equaling jump came in the fourth round of the competition and was his last jump as he subsequently passed on his fifth and sixth round efforts.

His other distances in the first three rounds were 8.23m, 8.36m and 8.29m. His second-round jump was also a world-leading effort.

Florida State Senior Jeremiah Davis produced a season’s best 8.20m for second while Florida Junior Malcolm Clemons was third with 8.11m.

The former Kingston College standout also won NCAA Indoor gold in 2022.

On the track, Bahamian Texas Tech Junior Terrence Jones led all qualifiers to the final of the men’s 60m with a time of 6.56. Jamaican USC Junior Travis Williams (6.60) and Bahamian Florida Sophomore Wanya McCoy (6.60) also made it through to tomorrow’s final.

McCoy also led all qualifiers in the 200m with a facility record 20.34. Jones also made it through with the same time.

Florida Senior Jevaughn Powell and Texas Tech Sophomore Shaemar Uter both made it through to the final of the 400m with times of 46.05 and 46.09, respectively.

The qualifiers for the 800m final were led by Jamaican Iowa Junior Rivaldo Marshall with 1:47.21.

Vincentian Penn State Sophomore Handal Roban (1:47.55) and Jamaican Clemson Senior Tarees Rhoden (1:47.66) also made it through.

In a final where three Caribbean nations – Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda and Grenada – were represented, Nelson stormed to victory, pulling away from the stacked field to produce a massive personal best that is both a meet and championship record, eclipsing the 7.07 held jointly by Oregon’s Hannah Cunliffe and LSU Aleia Hobbs.

The time, a school record, was also just 0.03 off the 7.02 facility record set by Tiana Madison (Bartoletta) in 2012.

It was also the second-fastest time in the world this year behind the 7.03 set by Switzerland’s AJla Del Ponte at the recent European Indoor Championships in Torun.

USC’s Twanisha Terry, the pre-race favourite, who went into the final with the fastest time, 7.09, won the silver medal in 7.14s.

It was a Jamaican 1-3 as former Jamaica national junior record holder Kiara Grant took third in 7.16.

Antigua’s Joella Lloyd, who two weeks ago set a new national record of 7.15 was sixth in 7.23 while Grenada’s Halle Hazzard, a senior at Virginia, was eighth on 7.27.

Nelson, 21, attended Mt Alvernia High School in Montego Bay, Jamaica and transferred to Oregon in October 2020, having spent her first three years of college at the University of Technology in Kingston.

In doing so, she became the first Jamaican-born female athlete to attend the University of Oregon, having expressed a desire to compete in NCAA-level athletics.

Having fulfilled her desire, she expressed her delight on Instagram afterwards saying, “What a way to close out the indoor season.”

Richards, who ran a personal best 45.00 to win the World title in Belgrade in 2022, ran a season’s best 45.74 for victory in the Men’s 400m ahead of the USA’s Vernon Norwood (45.92) and Ireland’s Jack Rafferty (46.66).

This was the Trinidadian’s second win in a row after. He ran 45.84 to win at the Millrose Games on February 11.

Elsewhere, 2019 World Champion Tajay Gayle jumped a season’s best 8.13m for second in the long jump, won by the USA’s Marquis Dendy with 8.28m. American William Williams was third with 8.03m.

2022 World 200m Champion Shericka Jackson ran 7.18 to finish fourth in the 60m behind the British pair of Dina Asher-Smith (7.05) and Darryl Neita (7.12). The USA’s Destiny Smith-Barnett finished third in 7.15. Asher-Smith’s time broke her own British record.

Alfred, 18, a sophomore at the University of Texas blazed to a fast 23.50 to win the 200m on Friday beating the likes of US collegiate star Twanisha Terry (23.55) and Nike athlete Teahna Daniels (23.97) in Section 1 of the 200m.

However, she was only just warming up.

On Saturday, in the preliminaries of the Women’s 60m dash, Alfred, who opened her indoor season with 7.18s in December 2019, clocked 7.13 to be the fastest into the finals. The time was a new personal best and St. Lucian national record.

She would go even faster in the finals, clocking 7.10 breaking her own PB and national record.  The time was also the seventh fastest performer in collegiate history and the fastest time ever recorded by a collegian in the month of January.

However, the time was only good enough for second as she was edged by Mikiah Brisco, who broke the tape in 7.08s.

Terry finished third in 7.15.

The 22-year-old became St. Lucia’s first ever global medallist with a joint world-leading 6.98 ahead of main rival Ewa Swoboda of Poland (7.00) and Italy’s Zaynab Dosso (7.05).

In a post-race interview, the 2023 Bowerman Award winner said she said she has long dreamt about being her country’s first ever global medallist.

“I’ve been dreaming about this for such a long time to come out here and give my country their first ever medal and I feel so happy and overwhelmed,” she said.

“I had so many feelings going through my mind and body. We had to wait such a long time to see our names come up and I just kept wondering is it me? Is it Swoboda? As soon as my name came up I just felt overwhelmed and happy knowing I can finally call myself a world champion,” Alfred added.

Alfred entered into the final as the second fastest qualifier with a time of 7.03 and watched Swoboda light up the track on her war to a world leading 6.98 to win her semi-final.

The former St. Catherine High and University of Texas standout was asked about whether or not Swoboda’s semi-final performance was on her mind going into the much-anticipated final.

“I think I’ve grown a little bit more compared to last year at the World Championships. Even if somebody runs faster than me in the semis, just don’t worry about it because there’s always a final,” she said.

As far as her tactical approach went, Alfred’s goal was to get a good start and maintain her composure through the line.

“Just get out! I think my semi-final wasn’t executed in the right way. I know my top end speed was there but I know that Swoboda has a great start so my main focus was just to get out and hang on and continue to push to the line,” added the former Texas standout.

With that said, “no,” was her response to a question about whether or not she executed her race perfectly.

“My start was there but I felt like the ending could’ve been much better had I just stayed relaxed and not pressured myself to go to the line,” she added.

Alfred's goal now shifts to some outdoor success at the Paris Olympics.

"Definitely! One step at a time, one race at a time and just practicing hard to execute when the time comes," she said.

The 22-year-old was the fastest man in the preliminaries with 6.90 before producing 6.86 to win the final ahead of DePaul’s Dominic Cole (6.91) and Eastern Illinois’s Cameron Yarbrough (6.92).

Toussaint finished third in the 100m at the St. Lucian Championships in 10.76 last year. His personal best 10.65 was done in the semi-finals of those championships.

Toussaint’s schoolmate, Barbadian Khristel Martindale, ran 7.63 for second in the women’s 60m which was won by Notre Dame’s Michelle Quinn in 7.57. Another Lewis University sprinter Rose Ogbuli was third in 7.68.

Martindale was a finalist in both the 100m and 200m at the 2023 Carifta Games in Nassau, finishing sixth in the 100m in 11.97 and fourth in the 200m in 24.25.

The 2012 double sprint World Junior champion ran 7.21 for victory in the women’s 60m. She finished just ahead of Poland’s Magdalena Stefanovicz (7.22) and Iran’s Farzaneh Fasihi (7.23). Jamaica's Tina Clayton ran 7.28 in sixth.

Reigning Jamaican National 100m champion Rohan Watson ran 6.65 for fifth in the male equivalent won by the USA’s Demek Kemp in 6.55. The Japanese pair of Shuhei Tada and Akihiro Higashida ran 6.58 and 6.59 for second and third, respectively.

The meet’s most impressive performance came in the women’s 60m hurdles where Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan, coached by Jamaican Lacena Golding-Clarke, produced an African record 7.77 to win ahead of two-time World Indoor champion Nia Ali (7.89) and Ireland’s Sarah Lavin (7.91). Jamaica’s Megan Tapper and Amoi Brown were fifth and eighth with times of 8.03 and 8.11, respectively.

The women’s 400m saw Jamaica’s Stephenie Ann McPherson finish second overall with a time of 54.66. The event was won by Portugal’s Catia Azevedo in 52.64 while Japan’s Nanako Matsumoto was third overall with 54.79.

According to LSU Head Track and Field Coach Dennis Shaver, the plan for the 19-year-old former Hydel High School star is to attempt making Jamaica’s team for the Olympic Games in Paris in both the 100m and 200m races.

Lyston gave an indication of her early readiness to be competitive this season when she ran a fast 7.07 to win the 60m dash at the Razorback Invitational last weekend. The time tied Aleia Hobbs’ school record and is the fifth-fastest time in the world this year.

Intriguingly, Coach Shaver revealed that the fast time was not really a surprise given how well Lyston had been training leading up to the meet but hinted that she could have gone even faster.

“Well, it's hard to predict what she would run. But I did know that when we're doing starts in training and so forth for 30, 40 or 50 meters, she was executing quite well in training, but it's always hard in the 60 to predict what their actual finish time is going to be. But I knew that, just based on what some of our other athletes that she trains with, what they were running, I had a pretty good idea that she was going to run in the 60 m this last week.

“And that's why we entered her always because we felt like, in communicating with her, we both felt that she was ready to execute the race well. And so I was proud of her. She just ran, I think, 14 (7.14) in the prelims and felt really easy. And I said, well, when you get in the final now, don't try to run real fast, just try to execute, and I think that's what she did.”

This early indicator, Coach Shaver believes, is why Lyston – all things being equal - will be in the mix when she goes up against her more experienced compatriots at the Jamaica national championships come June.

“She's going to be ready, and she's going to be able to run at the Jamaican trials and try to make the Olympic team. That's just one of the goals now. If we don't make it, it's not the end of the world. She's so young, but the reality of it is that I think the experience of her running in under 20s was a real positive thing,” Coach Shaver said of the 2022 World U20 200m champion.

“And so I think, the younger you are to make an Olympic team and be able to perform at Olympic level, it is one more year of experience you have for the next time that rolls around.”

Coach Shaver explained that even though Lyston is known more for her prowess over 200m, he is not ruling out her aiming for a spot on Jamaica’s 100m team to Paris as well.

“I wouldn't eliminate the 100 meters from the possibility either. And I know there are some great Jamaican 100m people, but I think she can be in that mix too, just based on that 7.07.”

The journey to this point has not been easy for Lyston, who has had a history of physical challenges during her high school career. That was pretty much the case when she arrived at LSU for her freshman year, Coach Shaver revealed.

 During her freshman year indoors, Lyston ran two 60m dashes peaking at 7.29 as well as a single 200m in which she ran 23.54 in New Mexico. Outdoors, she raced over 200m four times. She also ran in seven 4x100m relays and a single 4x400m relay.

Coach Shaver explained the reason behind why she ran such a limited number of races.

“Most people that know me know that I'm pretty patient. When I don't feel like somebody's really prepared to perform at an adequate level just based on training, I just don't race them. So last year I just felt like it was a big transition for Brianna. But I think that as we went through the year with her, she adapted more and more to what we were asking her to do. And I think she's just grown from there,” he said.

“She had a really good fall, this fall of training, and I think that led to what happened this (past) weekend. I just didn't feel like until now I really had her prepared to perform well and be able to do it safely and not injure herself.”

Injuries were something that the LSU coaching staff had to help the now bigger and stronger Lyston overcome during that difficult freshman year.

“There were things that we do in training that she did some things really good, but she didn't do everything really good. So until she got and adapted and started adapting to the training and then, of course, I just think this year there's a lot more focus more confidence, which is obviously very important and it's a tribute to her and believing in what we do and working within those parameters that we're asking her to do,” Coach Shaver said.

“I think also we've got an excellent medical staff that diagnosed things that needed to be worked on. It's just taking this long before I really feel like collectively we had her prepared to run fast and stay healthy.”

For her standout performance on the weekend, Lyston was named USTFCCCA Female Athlete of the Week.

Williams, 18, was supposed to have opened her season last December in Freeport, Bahamas but then withdrew citing issues with the meet promoters.

Since then, she was being put through her paces by Coach Ato Boldon, who revealed recently that the  2018 World U20 100 and 200m champion was straining at the leash, eager to compete. For her part, Williams, having had a taste of indoor running last year, said she is looking forward to doing to again.

“I am very excited and also grateful to be able to run in this meet coming up February 13. I have been eager to run and seeing everyone running well indoors, I wanted to give it another try,” she said.

“I am just going to race happy, prepared. I feel strong and in shape. I just cant wait to see the times I’ll do and I just hope I do well.”

In February 2020, Williams, then 17, ran a personal best 7.18 while finishing third at the Millrose Games at the Armoury in New York.

Harrison Jr, 24, produced a personal best of 6.59 to win the men’s event ahead of Kasaun James (6.61) and Tennessee Sophomore T’Mars McCallum (6.63).

The American-born Harrison Jr’s previous personal best was 6.67 done in January 2022. That year also saw Harrison Jr claim the 100m title at T&T’s National Championships with a personal best 10.08 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.

The women’s equivalent saw Antiguan Olympian and Tennessee Senior Joella Lloyd win in a season’s best 7.27, just ahead of American Maia McCoy (7.29) in second and Kentucky Junior Victoria Perrow (7.31).

In the field, Jamaican Florida State Sophomore Jordan Turner produced 7.90m for second in the men’s long jump behind schoolmate Jeremiah Davis’ season’s best and facility record 8.20m. American Cameron Crump was third with 7.88m.

The Tokyo Olympic triple gold medallist clocked a season-best 7.08 after surging past Switzerland’s Mujinga Kambindji (7.11) and Great Britain’s Daryll Neita (7.13) to claim victory and become the fastest Jamaican woman in the event this year.

Briana Williams by virtue of her 7.09 run at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in New York on February 6.

Still, the fastest woman alive was not completely satisfied.

“It’s been a good one. I am healthy. I got a season-best, 7.08. I would have loved to have gone below seven seconds but I am not rushing it. I wish it had two rounds to get me warmed up but I am happy for the win,” she said afterwards.

She reiterated that her primary focus this season is the World Athletic Championships in Oregon in July where she plans to improve on her previous showings at the championships where she has never won a gold medal.

She plans to rectify that this year.

“I only have a silver medal from 2015 so I am just working towards having a world championship title in either the 100m or 200m.”

She also praised the fans in the stadium for the atmosphere they generated, especially coming off a season when fans were not allowed into the stands at the Olympic Games in Tokyo where she created history last summer.

“The crowd was awesome. They came out and they supported us. We wanted that last year; because of Covid, we had no spectators. I was just happy for the crowd to come out to see us dominating on the field.”

Thompson-Herah races next in Poland on Tuesday.

The World Female Athlete of the Year and nominee for Laureus Sportswoman of the Year is down to compete at the Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix on February 19 and at the ORLEN Copernicus Cup Indoor meet in Torun, Poland three days later, fueling speculation that following up on her success in Tokyo last year, that she would be attempting to break Irina Privalova’s record of 6.92 that has been on the books since February 11, 1993.

However, when Sportsmax.TV asked the five-time Olympic gold medalist if she harboured ambitions of breaking the record, emphatically dismissed the notion.

“I am not targeting the world record as I am not altering my program for indoor competition,” said Thompson-Herah, whose personal best of 6.98 was set on February 18, 2017.

She indicated that her reason for competing indoors is not about the record but is part of her preparation for the coming outdoor season.

“My indoor meets are for the improvement of my overall 100m race but I am feeling great that means anything is possible,” she said while suggesting that she is still mulling whether to compete at the World Indoor Championships in Serbia in March.

 “I haven’t decided yet on World Indoors, just taking it a step at a time,” she said.

Incidentally, Thompson-Herah’s 6.98 is tied for eighth all-time with compatriot and rival Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who ran her time in Poland in March 2014.

Last month, Thompson-Herah ran a 60m race outdoors in 7.19 (-1.9m/s) at the Queens/Grace Jackson Meet in Kingston.

“I’m so excited to race in Birmingham to start my 2022 campaign,” said the fastest woman alive by virtue of her 10.54 100m run in Oregon last August.

“I have enjoyed competing in the UK over the years and there is always a special atmosphere at this venue. I ran my PB at this arena in 2017, so competing here means a lot to me.

“This year is a huge one. I have big goals for the World Athletics Championships later this summer, but first I’d like to give fans something to cheer about in Birmingham.”

Last summer, Thompson-Herah clocked 10.61, an Olympic record, to win the 100m at the Tokyo Olympics and then claimed the gold in the 200m in 21.53, the second-fastest time in history. In achieving the double, the 29-year-old Jamaican became the first woman in Olympic history to win both sprints at consecutive Olympic Games.

She added a third gold as a member of Jamaica’s 4x100m relay team that set a new national record of 41.02, the third-fastest time ever run for a relay.

In Birmingham, she will face Britain's two-time Olympic bronze medallist Daryll Neita, who also had a strong year in 2021. Last year she recorded lifetime best performances over 100m (10.93) and 200m (22.81) and finished eighth in the Olympic 100m final in Tokyo. Her 60m best is 7.21 from February 2021.

“The last time I raced Elaine indoors was in Birmingham in 2017 when she won, and I was fifth. Although she remains faster than me, I have to believe that the gap has closed since then and that with the backing of our brilliant British supporters, I can be more competitive this time around,” Neita said.

The Müller Indoor Grand Prix is the fifth World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting of 2022. There are seven Gold level meetings across the series, starting with Karlsruhe on 28 January and culminating in Madrid on 2 March.

Other athletes set to compete in Birmingham include Olympic pole vault champion Mondo Duplantis, world indoor 60m hurdles record-holder Grant Holloway, Olympic 1500m silver medallist Laura Muir and Olympic 800m silver medallist Keely Hodgkinson.

Similar to 2024, Kishane Thompson’s first race of the season has already sent track and field fans into a frenzy.

The reigning Olympic 100m silver medallist opened his 2025 season in the F final of the men’s 60m at the Central Hurdles, Relays & Field Events Meet at the GC Foster College in St. Catherine on Saturday.

Jamaican USC senior Travis Williams ran a swift 6.55 for second in the men’s 60m final at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic at the Albuquerque Convention Center in New Mexico on Saturday. Williams ran times of 6.62 in the heats and 6.61 in the semi-finals.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Leah Bertrand delivered an impressive performance at the Arkansas Qualifier on Friday, finishing second in the women’s 60m dash in a season-best 7.25 seconds.

On Friday, Lloyd, a sophomore at the University of Tennessee, ran a personal best of 7.20 to win the 60m at the two-day Clemson Tiger Paw meeting that concluded on Saturday at the Clemson Indoor Track and Field Complex in South Carolina.

The time erased her previous personal best and national record of 7.27 set in February 2019. She just managed to hold off Kentucky’s Abby Steiner who was a close second in 7.21 and Grenada’s Halle Hazzard, competing for Virginia, who clocked 7.26.

“Setting a new national in the 60m feels amazing,” she told Sportsmax.TV.

“The training I’ve undergone this season paid off in my race yesterday (Friday). This season we’ve been working a lot on improving my reaction time and holding my drive phase longer. Implementing more reaction exercises in my training and stepping up in the weight room has helped me improve in those two areas.”

The 18-year-old speedster also set a new national record on Saturday when she clocked 23.63 in her heat of the 200m, the fourth-fastest time overall.

Steiner was the fastest overall in a new facility record of 22.52. Delecia McDuffie’s 23.24 was the next best while Trishauna Hemmings ran 23.28 for third.