There were eight finals in track and field on the night during which Venezuela’s world-record holder Yulimar Rojas established a new championship record while dominating the triple jump competition and Puerto Rico’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn took home the coveted title of CAC 100m hurdles champion.
Brathwaite found himself in a dogfight with Rasheem Brown of the Cayman Islands and manage to emerge victorious despite both being credited with the same time of 13.64.
Brown took the silver while the bronze medal went to Jeanice Laviolette of Guadeloupe, who clocked 13.82 for third.
By contrast, Camacho-Quinn cruised to victory in the 100m hurdles, winning by daylight in 12.61.
Greisys Roble ran 12.94 and will take the silver medal back to Cuba while Costa Rica’s Andrea Vargas finished third in 13.02.
Dayle followed up her silver-medal run in the 100m with gold in the half-lap sprint that she won in 22.80. It was Jamaica’s first gold medal at the 2023 championships.
In a fierce battle for second place, Cuba Yunisleidy Garcia stopped the clock in 23.05 while just managing to hold off the challenge of Fiordaliza Cofil of the Dominican Republic, who was 0.02 behind in 23.07.
Alexander Ogando of the Dominican Republic came within a hair’s breadth of the Games record in the men’s race clocking 19.99 for the gold medal.
He came with 0.03s of Alonzo Edwards’ record of 19.96 set in 2018.
Colombia’s Carlos Palacious ran 20.37 to win the silver medal while Edwards, who is from Panama took the bronze in a time of 20.46.
Cuba had a 1-2 finish in the Women’s 800m that was won by Rose Almanza in 2:01.75 with her teammate Sahily Diago close behind in 2:02.81.
Shafiqua Maloney of St Vincent and the Grenadines copped third place in a time of 2:04.98.
Maloney’s teammate Handal Roban would win the men’s event in 1:45.93 resisting the challenge of Puerto Rico’s Ryan Sanchez, who ran 1:46.86 and the Dominican Republic’s Ferdy Agramonte, who copped bronze in 1:47.46.
In a triple jump competition of the highest quality, Rojas, the three-time world champion and world record holder, sailed out to a remarkable 15.16m to shatter the previous mark of 14.92m set by Colombian legend Catherine Ibarguen in 2018.
Cuba’s Leyanis Perez also went past the previous record setting a mark of 14.98m with her teammate Liadagmis Povea finishing third in an impressive 14.85m.
Dominica’s Thea LaFond was fourth with a mark of 14.42m.
The 22-year-old Trinidadian secured first place ahead of Wisconsin’s Lawrence Johnson (10.22) and his Minnesota teammate and fellow Trinidadian, Carlon Hosten (10.22).
Jamaican Ohio State senior Yanique Dayle was third in the Women’s equivalent in 11.19. The event was taken by her teammate Leah Bertrand in 11.15 while Minnesota’s Amira Young ran 11.15 for second.
Dayle went two better in the 200m, running 22.87 to win ahead of Michigan’s Ziyah Holman (23.08) while 100m runner-up Young was third in 23.09.
Minnesota’s 19-year-old Trinidadian sophomore, Devin Augustine, ran 20.45 for third in the Men’s equivalent behind Iowa’s Austin Kresley (20.26) and 100m third-place finisher Carlon Hosten (20.43).
Jamaican Ohio State sophomore, Zidane Brown, ran 45.75 for second in the Men’s 400m behind Iowa’s Jenoah Mckiver (45.59). Michigan’s Dubem Amene ran 46.20 for third.
In the field, Nebraska’s Lotavia Brown took the Women’s triple jump in 13.33m ahead of Ohio State’s Jaimie Robinson (13.24m) and Michigan’s Riley Ammenhauser (13.07m)
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.
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.
