That’s the word from 2021 World U20 champion Ackera Nugent, who was responding to a question about who she thinks will emerge victorious in the 100m hurdles at Jamaica’s National Senior Championships that get underway at the National Stadium in Kingston on Thursday, June 23.
Nugent, who turned 20 in April, will miss the championships because of injury but is already on the mend as she targets a triumphant return to the track for her junior year at Baylor University. As the second fastest Jamaican woman in the world this year, Nugent will be missed but the field that will assemble is stacked.
Among the women contending for the top three spots will be Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Megan Tapper, 2015 World Championships gold medalist Danielle Williams, who is also the 2019 bronze medallist, 2022 Big 12 Conference Champion Demisha Roswell, Britany Anderson, Crystal Morrison, and Trishauna Hemmings among others.
However, Nugent perhaps one of the most talented hurdlers in her country’s history, was not willing to put her neck on the block given how keenly contested Sunday’s final is expected to be.
“Well, the hurdles is an event that you can’t really have expectations on it because anything can happen in those 12-13-seconds of the race,” she reasoned.
“So it’s a thing where you have to expect the unexpected.”
She does expect to be back better and stronger than ever for the coming 2022/2023 NCAA season.
Mere days after running a personal best 12.45 to finish second to Roswell at the Big 12 Championships, Nugent, citing injury, shut down her season in early June. It was a decision that meant that she would miss the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships in Oregon as well as Jamaica’s National Championships where she was expected to be among the athletes making the team to the World Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, where the NCAA Championships were also held.
She revealed the circumstances that led to her decision.
“I had been having ankle problems this season more than normal but I was able to compete but at regionals, running the 4x100m I tore my plantar fascia (the thick tendon that connects the heel and the toes) and it was really bad,” she recalled.
Despite the injury, she said, she soldiered on, which made things worse.
“Knowing me as somebody that’s like ‘I have a next race to go do, let’s knock it out the way. I took some pain killers and I wrapped my leg up and went out there to compete and when I realized in the race it was getting really bad I slowed up and was still able to make nationals and then I looked and saw how swollen my foot was and I was like ‘I don’t think I have enough time to recover and make it for nationals’ so I decided to close my season down.”
As it stands, she is now able to walk and can run a little but thinks it best to give herself time to heal ahead of next season. “I don’t think it’s a smart decision to run so now I will be focusing on recovering, rehabbing and getting stronger. I have enough time to get better, to get stronger so I will be ready for next year,” she said.
The 18-year-old freshman, who holds the U18 world record for the 100m hurdles and share of the U20 World Indoor 60m hurdles title, proved her class in winning in 7.92, 0.01 outside her personal best set two weeks ago.
She was a comfortable winner holding off the challenge of compatriot Daszay Freeman, a sophomore at Arkansas, who ran a personal best of 7.99 for the silver medal.
Texas senior Chanel Brissett, who defeated Nugent at the Big 12 Championships in late February, was third in 8.01.
The other Jamaican in the final Trishauna Hemmings, a junior at Clemson finished eighth in 8.16.
The 20-year-old Barbadian won the event in 50.61 over Florida’s Denzel Villaman who finished in 50.85.
Clemson’s Jevon Williams was third in 54.50.
Griffith’s time is the seventh fastest in the world this year.
On Thursday, Clemson’s Trishauna Hemmings took her solid indoor season outdoors finishing second in the 200m in 23.69s in the race where Tennessee’s Maia McCoy clocked 23.46 for the win.
Tennessee freshman Jada Chambers was third in 24.05.
The 2019 World Championship bronze medalist clocked 7.87, a season-best time. Only Christina Clemons’ 7.83 in February and Tonea Marshall’s 7.86 in January were faster in 2021.
The 28-year-old Williams, the 2015 World Champion, was easily the fastest in the preliminaries clocking 8.04, a full 0.10 seconds faster than Clemson’s Trishauna Hemmings, who was fourth in the final in 8.15.
Second place went to Kentucky junior Masai Russell, who clocked 8.09 while Tiana McMinn of University of Miami was third in 8.13s.
Meanwhile, Antigua’s Joella Lloyd, a sophomore at Tennessee won the 60m dash in a season-best 7.20 in a blanket finish with Kentucky’s Abby Steiner, who was given 7.21 for the silver medal.
Grenada’s Halle Hazzard, a senior of Virginia was third in 7.26.
Also among those delivering outstanding performances was Trishauna Hemmings of Clemson University and Owayne Owens of the University of Virginia.
The 20-year-old junior, who boasts a personal best of 7.20s over 60m, raced to a facility record 7.35 while winning the final at the Gamecock Opener in South Carolina on Saturday.
The former Jamaica national 100m junior record holder, beat back the challenge of Melissa Jefferson of South Carolina (7.49) and Mia D’Ambrosio of North Carolina State (7.70).
Meanwhile, Nugent, who holds the 100m hurdles World U18 record, got her collegiate career off to a winning start when she took gold in the 60m hurdles in 8.22s at the Corky Classic in Texas. Her teammate Kennedy Bailey was second in 8.33 while her compatriot Gabrielle McDonald, a senior at Texas Tech was third in 8.52.
At the Clemson Invitational, Hemmings, a senior at Clemson, ran a personal best 8.18 seconds to win her heat in the 60mh. However, she did not start in the finals.
Owens, who attends the University of Virginia, set a personal best 16.35m while winning the triple jump, at the Virginia Tech Invitational in Blacksburg, Virginia.
The 2019 World Championships finalist cruised to a time of 2:01.07 finishing well clear of Sarah Hendrick of Kennesaw State, who crossed the finish line in 2:05.64. Andrea Foster of Clemson was third in 2:06.15.
The performance capped wins for Jamaican athletes at the two-day meet that began on Friday.
Trishauna Hemmings won yet another 60m sprint hurdles race, this time in 8.12 in a blanket-finish over Destinee Rocker (8.13). Jeanine Williams was third in 8.20.
The outcome might well have been different had 2015 World Champion Danielle Williams had not been disqualified for a false start. The 2019 World Championships bronze medalist had shaken off months of rust to win her preliminary heat in 7.97s.
The men’s event went to Clemson’s LaFranz Campbell in 7.85.
Filip Demsar was second in 7.93 while Tyson Williams was third in 8.02.
At the Texas Tech Invitational at Lubbock, Texas on Friday, Charokee Young won the 400m in 52.64 in a Texas A&M 1-2-3.
Syaira Richardson won the silver medal in 53.28 while Jania Martin (53.59) was third.
Pinnock and McLeod, both former Kingston College standouts, now competing for the University of Tennessee, jumped 7.93m and 7.63m, respectively, to advance. They were also the top two finishers at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Alabama in March with Pinnock jumping 7.92m for victory against McLeod's 7.91m.
Former Jamaica College and current Purdue jumper Safin Wills produced 15.89m to advance in the Men’s triple jump.
On the track, Jamaica’s Yanique Dayle and Antigua and Barbuda’s Joella Lloyd will both compete in the sprint double at the NCAA Championships after securing their spots.
Dayle, formerly of Hydel High and now competing for Ohio State, ran times of 11.24 in the 100m and 22.64 in the 200m while Lloyd, competing for Tennessee, ran the same time in the 100m and 23.01 in the 200m.
The Women’s 400m also saw two Caribbean competitors advance from the East Region with Bahamian Kentucky standout Megan Moss (52.07) and Bermudan UMBC athlete Caitlyn Bobb (52.40).
Trinidadian Olympian and Kentucky senior Dwight St. Hillaire ran 45.63 to advance in the Men’s equivalent.
Clemson senior Lafranz Campbell of Jamaica and Cayman's North Carolina A&T senior Rasheem Brown both ran 13.63 to advance in the Men’s sprint hurdles while another Jamaican Clemson representative, Trishauna Hemmings, ran 13.13 to advance in the Women’s 100m hurdles.
Barbadian and Tennessee sophomore Rasheeme Griffith and Jamaica and Kentucky senior Kenroy Williams ran 50.91 and 50.96, respectively, to progress in the Men’s 400m hurdles.
