Texas Tech Jr Terrence Jones established a new Bahamian national record on the way to 200m gold at the Big 12 Indoor Championships at the TTU Sports Performance Center in Lubbock on Saturday.

Jones, 21, won in 20.21 ahead of Houston Senior Shaun Maswanganyi (20.41) and Jamaican Baylor Senior Demar Francis (20.60).

Jones also holds Bahamian records in the 60m (6.45) and 100m (9.91), alongside 2007 World Championship silver medallist Derrick Atkins.

The women’s 400m saw Jamaican Texas Sophomore Dejanea Oakley produce a personal best 51.75 to take gold ahead of Iowa State Sophomore Rachel Joseph (51.98) and Texas Senior Ziyah Holman (52.22).

Oakley completed an excellent individual meet with another personal best, 22.86, to take the runner-up spot in the 200m. TCU Junior Iyana Gray took gold in 22.71 while Texas Tech Senior Rosemary Chukwuma took bronze in 22.90.

The men’s 400m saw St. Lucian Kansas Junior Michael Joseph set a personal best and break his own national record to win gold in 45.46. Jamaican Texas Tech Sophomore Shaemar Uter ran 45.68 for silver while Baylor Junior Nathaniel Ezekiel took third in 45.73.

In the field, Jamaican Texas Junior Ackelia Smith was dominant in the women’s long jump, producing 6.74m to win comfortably ahead of Baylor Senior Alexis Brown (6.45m) and Texas freshman Aaliyah Foster (6.34m).

Texas Tech won the men’s team title by 60 points, finishing with 152 points. Oklahoma State (92), Texas (89), Kansas (81) and Iowa State (67.5) rounded out the top five.

On the women’s side, Texas won the title with 135 points while Texas Tech (104), Oklahoma State (103.5), BYU (71) and Baylor (44) rounded out the top five.

Seventeen-year-old Adaejah Hodge set a new national 100m record and won the 200m dash at the 2023 Corky/Crofoot Shootout in Lubbock, Texas on Saturday when Jamaica’s Demisha Roswell, Bahamian Antoine Andrews and the Virgin Islands’ Michelle Smith enjoyed victories.

It is not often that Hodge, the BVI’s sprint phenom, loses a race but even so still found a silver-lining when she finished second in the 100m behind Oklahoma’s Kennedy Blackmon, who took gold in 11.06.

Hodge’s 11.11 for second was a new personal best and a national record, eclipsing the 11.12 set in June 2011 by Tahesia Harrigan.

Success Umukoro of South Plains Junior College was third in 11.29.

Hodge would turn the tables on Blackmon in the 200m which she won in 22.31, which would have broken Harrigan’s national record of 22.98 had it not been for the five-metre-per-second trailing wind. Hodge, by the way, owns the World U20 200m indoor record of 22.33 set in Boston in March.

Blackmon finished second in 22.56 while Serena Clarke of Texas Tech was third in 23.07.

Anderson of the Bahamas ran out a comfortable winner in the 110m hurdles. The Texas Tech freshman clocked 13.46 as Justin Guy of South Plains and Taylor Rooney of Texas Tech ran 13.57 and 13.88 for second and third, respectively.

Roswell, the 2022 Big 12 100m hurdles champion Roswell was the only competitor under 13 seconds in the 100m hurdles taking the event in 12.89.

Her Texas Tech teammate Naomi Krebs, a freshman was second in 13.25. Nex Mexico’s Ese Awusa ran 13.57 for third place.

Smith, the 2023 Carifta Games U20 400m champion, had a battle on her hands but found enough to hold off Daneesha Davidson, clocking 56.66 to Davidson’s 56.69 in the blanket finish. Sylvia Schulz was third in 57.08.

Grace Obour of Western Texas College, by a wide margin, won the 400m in 52.71 over New Mexico’s Deshana Skeete, who took the runner-up spot in 54.02. Jamaica’s Rushana Dwyer who attends South Plains Junior College finished third after crossing the line in 54.43.

Zarik Brown of Oklahoma ran 45.38 for a comfortable victory in the men’s one-lap race with DeSean Bryce of Western Texas finishing in second place in 46.19. The South Plains duo of Kimar Farquharson and Jeremy Bembridge were third and fourth, respectively, in the same time of 46.28.

Demisha Roswell shocked everyone, herself included when she won the 100m hurdles at the Big 12 Outdoor Conference Championships at Fuller Field in Lubbock, Texas on Sunday. The Texas Tech senior edged her more heralded compatriot Ackera Nugent, the 2021 World U20 champion and a talented field, clocking 12.44, the second fastest time in the world this season and the fastest in the NCAA.

Only the 12.39 from Tokyo Olympic champion, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, has been faster this year. Nugent’s time for second place, 12.45, is the third fastest time in the world in 2022.

The victory was a bit of a surprise for the 24-year-old Vere Technical and New Mexico Junior College alum, who went into the final having run 12.78 in her preliminary round heat. “No, I didn’t expect the time. I was more excited about the win, to be honest. I’m still in shock!”, she said.

From the gun, Roswell found herself matching strides with Nugent but was never intimidated and had no intention to yield as they raced towards the finish line.

“That’s the crazy part of the race because I told myself I want to win I have to win. I was like “Oh no,  you’re not getting away today,” she said laughing while admitting that she felt something special would happen.

“From the moment I wasn’t nervous I knew I was going to do something great. Ackera is an amazing competitor and the both of us know we got to show out and fight and that’s what I did because I wanted to win.”

Roswell credits her faith in her coaches and continuous hard work in improving her technique for getting her to this point where she is the fastest Jamaican sprint hurdler in the world this year, a significant achievement given her country’s stock in hurdling talent that includes Olympic medallist Megan Tapper, 2015 World Champion and national record holder Danielle Williams, World U20 record holder Brittany Anderson and, of course, Baylor's Nugent.

“The main factors are time, patience and faith,” she said. “Every day I have to keep improving because my hurdling is not perfect but thanks to my coaches for always trying with me to improve my hurdling.

“I don’t have the best hurdles technique because I wasn’t cut out for hurdling. I was just a 200m and a 100m runner when suddenly my coach from back home, John Mair, told me, ‘ Roswell, I think you should do hurdles. I said to him ‘Huh, me? I can’t do hurdles coach. He then said, ‘Listen, to me you’re going to do it so I went for it.”

She said when she moved to the United States to attend New Mexico Junior College, her coaches Keith Blackwill and Tabarie Henry helped her improve her technique even though it still wasn’t perfect. Still, it was good enough to win her the NJCAA Indoor 60mh title and 100mh Outdoor title in 2019 and the 60mh title in 2020.

At Texas Tech, the work to perfect her technique continues.

“Coach (Zach) Glavash got me here and Coach (Calvin) Robinson started work on me. My technique has gotten better from last year until now. I thank God for these coaches every day for working with me even though there is still room for improvement,” she said.

With the sweet taste of victory still lingering, Roswell has an eye on even bigger scalps this summer. She reveals that she plans to earn a spot on Jamaica’s team to the World Championships in Oregon this summer.

 “Most definitely that’s the aim, trying my best to make this national team,” she said.

“(I am) just looking to stay healthy and be ready because hurdling is unpredictable, anything can happen but I won’t be travelling across the ocean and not make the team. So on that day, the time will tell. I put everything in God's hands.”

Julien Alfred, Demisha Roswell and Johnathan Jones pulled off impressive victories as the Big 12 Conference Championships concluded in Lubbock, Texas on Sunday.