Jamaica’s Kemba Nelson of Oregon and Alfred’s Texas teammate Kevona Davis also qualified for Eugene with times of 10.85 and 11.04, both also wind-aided, respectively.
Davis will also contest the 200m in Eugene after running 22.49 to qualify second fastest in the West Region behind teammate Kynnedy Flannel (22.40).
Jamaicans Stacey Ann Williams of Texas (50.66) and Charokee Young of Texas A&M (50.80) were the fastest qualifiers in the Women’s 400m.
Barbados' Jonathan Jones of Texas and Jamaica's Jevaughn Powell of UTEP ran 44.85 and 44.87, respectively, to be the top two qualifiers in the Men's equivalent. 44.87 is a new personal best for Powell, the former Edwin Allen and Kingston College standout.
Another Bajan, Rivaldo Leacock of New Mexico, ran a new personal best 49.63 to advance in the Men's 400m hurdles.
Texas Tech's Demisha Roswell was the second fastest qualifier in the Women's 100m hurdles with 12.78 while Baylor’s Ackera Nugent ran 12.93 to also advance.
Former Hydel High and current Texas A&M star Lamara Distin and Texas' Trinidadian Olympian Tyra Gittens both cleared 1.81m to progress in the Women's high jump while Gittens also produced 6.40 to advance in the long jump. Former Herbert Morrison athlete Daniella Anglin, now a freshman at South Dakota, also cleared 1.81m to advance in the high jump.
Bahamian Kansas State senior Kyle Alcine achieved a personal best 2.15m to advance in the Men's high jump.
The 21-year-old St. Lucian, who won the NCAA Indoor 60m and 200m double earlier this season, sped to a meet record and collegiate leading time of 10.83 to comfortably be the fastest qualifier to the Championships set for June 7-10 on her home track at the University of Texas's Mike A. Myers stadium.
Her Jamaican teammate, Kevona Davis, also made it through the preliminaries with an 11.06 effort.
The Texas duo also made it through in the 200m with Davis running a season’s best 22.33 and Alfred running 22.45.
Arkansas’s Ackera Nugent, a two-time NCAA Indoor Champion, ran 12.69, a new meet record to advance fastest in the sprint hurdles. Her countrywoman, Texas Tech’s Demisha Roswell, also made it through with a season’s best 12.77.
Arkansas’s Nickisha Price and Joanne Reid both advanced in the one-lap event with personal best times of 50.49 and 51.49, respectively.
In the field, defending NCAA high jump champion, Lamara Distin of Texas A&M, easily cleared 1.85m to secure her opportunity to defend her title. Texas’s Ackelia Smith, world leader in the long jump, also booked her spot in the field for the triple jump with 13.96m.
Meanwhile, at the East Regionals in Jacksonville, Ohio State’s Yanique Dayle and Kentucky’s Anthaya Charlton made it through in the 100m.
Dayle, the Jamaican Senior, produced a big personal best 11.05 while Charlton, the Bahamian Freshman, produced 11.08 (2.3 m/s) to advance.
Dayle also advanced in the 200m with a season’s best 22.58 while LSU’s Brianna Lyston also made it through with 22.92.
In the field, Georgia’s Vincentian Junior, Mikeisha Welcome, jumped 13.50m to make it through in the triple jump.
Williams shocked the world by winning her second World title last August with a 12.43 effort in Budapest.
She will be joined by countrywoman Ackera Nugent and fellow Caribbean star Devynne Charlton in the eight-woman field.
Nugent, who finished fifth at the World Championships in Budapest, dominated both the indoor and outdoor NCAA circuits last season.
She claimed the 60m hurdles title at the NCAA Indoor Championships in New Mexico in March with a brilliant 7.73 second effort, this after running a national record 7.72 in the semi-finals.
She followed that up with 100m hurdles gold at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Texas in June with a wind-aided 12.25.
Charlton is also well-credentialed both indoors and outdoors. She was a finalist in the 100m hurdles at the World Championships in Budapest, finishing sixth.
In 2022, she won silver in the 60m hurdles at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. That same year, she also took silver in the 100m hurdles at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Also in the mix will be former World 100m hurdles record holder Keni Harrison, two-time World Indoor champion Nia Ali as well as Tia Jones, Alaysha Johnson and Masai Russell.
Ackera Nugent, the 2023 NCAA National Division 1 champion, showcased her incredible talents, dominating a talented field of hurdlers to win in a world-leading 12.28 seconds. This impressive time not only earned her the national title but also set a new national record. Nugent's performance has set the stage for her to be a formidable contender at the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris.
World champion Danielle Williams, after several attempts, is finally on her way to her first Olympics, finishing second with a time of 12.53 seconds. Janeek Brown, the 2019 NCAA champion, also secured her spot for her Olympic debut by finishing third with a season’s best of 12.61 seconds.
While the women's race was thrilling, the men's 110m hurdles delivered a heart-stopping spectacle. In one of the closest finishes ever witnessed by Jamaican fans, Rasheed Broadbell was declared the winner with a time of 13.18 seconds, identical to Orlando Bennett, who finished in second place. Defending Olympic champion Hansle Parchment was narrowly edged out, finishing third in 13.19 seconds.
The race was so tightly contested that Tyler Mason finished just 0.03 seconds behind, with a time of 13.22 seconds, the same as the 2012 Olympic champion, who unfortunately missed out on the opportunity to represent Jamaica at another Olympic Games.
The 2024 National Championships in Kingston will be remembered for these remarkable performances, setting the stage for an exciting Olympics with Jamaican hurdlers poised to make a significant impact on the world stage.
Nugent, who turns 18, on Wednesday, April 29, has been an outstanding athlete for Jamaica and her high school.
In February 2019, she set a World U18 world record in the 100m hurdles at the Youngster Goldsmith track meet at the National Stadium in Kingston breaking fellow Jamaican Yanique Thompson’s record set in 2013 at the World U18 Championships in Ukraine.’
Nugent also boasts a 100m personal best of 11.42, the seventh fastest U18 time in the world.
In October 2018, Nugent, then just 16, demonstrated her quality at the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aries, Argentina. Running on a sprained ankle, the soft-spoken Jamaican won a bronze medal in the 100m hurdles.
Francis will join Nugent at Baylor as a prospect for the 400m, an event in which she has a personal best of 53.38, which ranks her seventh in the world for U20 athletes. She ran the time to win gold at the 2020 Central Championships in Jamaica in February. She was also a key member of Holmwood Technical's powerful 4x400m relay team.
Baylor has had a history of producing world-class athletes.
World and Olympic Champions Michael Johnson and Jeremy Wariner both attended Baylor. Trayvon Bromell, who won a bronze medal in the 100m at the 2015 World Championships also attended Baylor University.
