With his first and only jump, University of Arkansas freshman Jaydon Hibbert set a new World U20 record on his way to becoming this year's NCAA Division 1 Indoor National triple jump champion on Saturday.

The 18-year-old Hibbert only needed the sole effort to establish a mark of 17.54m, a new personal best for the 2023 SEC Field Athlete of the Year. The mark broke the meet record of 17.37m set by Florida's Marquis Dendy in 2015 as well the championship record of 17.50m established in 2015 by Charleston Southern's Charlie Simpkins in 1986. It was also a new Jamaican record.

Hibbert's closest rival was Salif Mane, a senior at Fairleigh Dickinson, whose best effort of 16.79m won him the silver medal while Owayne Owens, a junior at the University of Virginia leapt 16.69m for third.

Hibbert's Arkansas teammate Carey McLeod, who won the long jump with a national-record-equalling mark of 8.40m on Friday, finished sixth with a leap of 16.35m.

St Lucia’s batting prodigy Theo Edward wants to break into the West Indies senior team sometime during the next few years. The 15-year-old Edward, a student at the St Lucia Sports Academy, believes Test cricket is the format that suits him best so he is working his way towards that goal.

“My ambitions for the next five years; I want to play in the U19 World Cup and then hopefully go on to play for the senior team,” said Theo, who scored four consecutive centuries for St Lucia’s U15 team during the Windward Islands Cricket Board (WICB) Tournament last December.

“I have a lot of patience and I like to bat long. It gives me more time to think about my decision making so I like to play the longer format.”

In a time when most young players are drawn to the T20 format, it is a refreshing proclamation from the teenager, who made his national U15 team at the age of 11, and who recently returned home from Grenada where the Windward Islands Volcanoes staged a two-week special apprenticeship programme for a few U19 players.

Theo described his stay in Grenada as being beneficial.

“It was a good experience. The standard was very high. I learnt a lot about my batting, and mentally,” he said revealing that he has made some technical improvements.

“When I am facing spin I don’t really go deep in my crease. I learned you have to go deep, back and across so you get more time to see the ball,” he said, adding that. “My head was always falling away so I learned to keep my head straight and that helped me play the ball straighter.”

Theo, who WICB President Dr Kishore Shallow has described as a special talent, began showing an interest in the sport at age nine after his father, Cassius, a bus/taxi driver, began taking him on trips while transporting some West Indies stars while they were in St Lucia.

“Everywhere I go I used to take Theo with me,” the elder Edward said. “All the big stars, and he used to hold the bat and the ball and one day he said “Daddy, I am really interested in cricket and I must be a cricketer one day. But I never thought Theo would take that thing so serious.”

How serious?

“Theo’s life is cricket. You will never come home and Theo isn’t having some cricket watching,” Cassius revealed. “He sleeps with a bat and a ball under his head every single night.”

Theo, the second of the Edward’s two children – he has an older sister Cassie – said his father has been his biggest supporter since he first picked up a bat.

“My father offers the most support to me because he is always at my training sessions, he is always at my games, always looking for gears for me,” he said.

In the past week or so, Cassius has been attending games in the St Lucia schools U19 Tournament in which Theo has been filling his boots. He scored 49 in his team’s victory against Choiseul Secondary, 94 out of a score of 173 in a losing cause to Leon Hess Secondary and on Thursday, scored an unbeaten 40 and took five wickets in a comprehensive victory over Patricia D. James Secondary.

The doting father does so with great pride even though he has sometimes taken flak from other members of the family for his unwavering support for his son’s cricketing ambitions at the expense of his academics.

“Theo’s mother and I were in trouble for him playing cricket,” he recalled.

“When Theo wrote exams for Common Entrance, he didn’t do good at all and I got bashed from my own family who said because of me Theo didn’t do good. But right now everybody is following cricket everywhere Theo goes.”

Besides his father’s support, Theo’s development is in good hands. At school he leans on the experience and wisdom of coach Garey Mauthrin, the former West Indies and Windward Islands left-hander and his staff as well as Alton Crafton, who always has Theo’s ear.

“Alton Crafton is a man who knows a lot about Theo when it comes to cricket. Theo has a lot of respect for Alton and I believe that is why Alton loves him so much because of his patience and he is very disciplined,” said Cassius, who believes his unswerving commitment to his son will one day be rewarded.

 “I am so proud. I will turn down any trip, big trip, big money to take Theo anywhere there is cricket, you know.  I am very proud now and it is about to pay me all my time.

“Theo always tells me ‘Daddy, don’t worry. All that money and all that time you spend with me I will triple that for you. Don’t worry’.”

Rising RallyCross star Fraser McConnell will drive for Lewis Hamilton’s X44 Vida Carbon Racing Team in season three of the Extreme E Championship, the Jamaican announced on Instagram on Wednesday.

The 24-year-old McConnell replaces French veteran rally and rallycross driver, Sebastien Loeb, who won the 2022 Extreme E alongside Cristina Gutiérrez.

“Reporting for duty @lewishamilton,” McConnell announced in his Instagram page on Wednesday.

“So excited for this new chapter in my career racing for @teamx44 in season three of @extremeelive lining up with @cris­_tortu. Big shoes to fill while replacing @sebloebofficiel but I am going to give it my all.”

McConnell is the most competitively successful Jamaican driver in the history of international rallycross racing—his championship victory in the 2019 Americas RallyCross Championship marked the first and only championship win by a Jamaican driver in the series’ history.

McConnell currently competes professionally Dreyer & Reinbold Racing in the Group E class.

He made his rallycross career debut in 2018, competing in North America's ARX2 series. In 2019, McConnell made his international racing debut with Olsbergs MSE. That same year, McConnell won the ARX2 championship, marking the first time in history for a Jamaican to lift the title.

In 2021, McConnell secured his first supercar victory, defeating three-time FIA world champion Johan Kristoffersson at the RallyX Nordic in Nysum, Denmark.

In February, McConnell when he won his second qualifying event at Stampede Park in Calgary, becoming only the third driver this season to claim three career top qualifier results in RallyCross following his success at Glen Helen in California in late 2022.

The X44 team was founded by seven- time Formula One World Champion, Sir Lewis Hamilton. The name "X44" was chosen due to Hamilton using the number on his Formula One car since 2014.

Khadija Shaw scored a hat-trick for Manchester City Women who came from a goal down to defeat Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 in their Women Super League clash at the Manchester City Academy Stadium on Sunday.

The Gujarat Giants have released a statement clarifying why Deandra Dottin did not join the squad for the Women’s Premier League. In it, they said they were unable to get medical clearance for the player before the stipulated deadline.

The franchise that bought the Barbadian’s talents for US$73,000 in February, stirred some controversy late last week after indicating that the Barbadian all-rounder’s absence stemmed from her ongoing recovery from a medical situation, only for the player to publish a tweet saying she was “recovering from nothing”.

"I really appreciate all the messages but truth be told I'm recovering from nothing but the Holy Ghost anointing thank you #GodIsGood #GodIsInControl", Dottin posted on social media.

However, in a bid to clear the air on the matter, the Gujarat Giants revealed in a statement early on Sunday that Dottin’s absence was due to their failure to get the required medical clearance for the player.

"Deandra is a world-class player and a wonderful signing for the franchise. Unfortunately, we were unable to obtain a medical clearance before the defined deadline for this season, such clearances are a requirement of all players participating in the WPL,” the statement read.

"We look forward to seeing her return to the field soon. Subject to the clearance of her medical report, she will be part of the Gujarat Giants squad in the upcoming seasons."

Jamaica and Manchester City Women forward Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw has signed a contract extension with Nike. The 26-year-old Shaw broke the news to her more than 70 thousand followers on Instagram on Thursday.

A blazing half-century from Rovman Powell helped lift Peshawar Zalmi to a 24-run victory over Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League at Rawalpindi on Wednesday.

Powell smashed six fours and four sixes in a 34-ball 64 that propelled Peshawar Zalmi to 197-5 from their 20 overs.

The final score was testament to a remarkable recovery after Mohammad Amir had dismissed Mohammad Haris and Babar Azam for ducks in the opening first over and Saim Ayub for one in his second to have Peshawar Zalmi reeling at 3-2 in the third over.

The repair work began with Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Haseebullah Khan who counter-attacked with aplomb, the latter racing to an even 50 from just 29 balls from which he hit four fours and three sixes during their partnership of 82.

He was eventually dismissed by Tabraiz Shamsi, which brought Powell to the crease.

The Jamaican picked up from where Khan left off plundering the Karachi Kings bowling during a partnership of 85 from 51 balls before Amir had him caught behind in the 19^th over. By then Peshawar Zalmi has recovered to 169-5.

Aamer Jamal and Kohler-Cadmore added 28 from the last nine balls to what turned out to be the winning total. Kohler-Cadmore remained unbeaten on 56 while Jamal got his unbeaten 13 from just five balls.

Mohammad Amir was the pick of the bowlers taking 4-26.

The Karachi Kings made a proper go at the target with opener Matthew Wade scoring 53. However, they lost wickets regularly which slowed their momentum despite an unbeaten 57 from Imad Wasim, who clubbed 10 fours and a six in his 30-ball knock.

Azmatullah Omarzai and Jamal did the damage for Peshawar Zalmi with hauls of 3-28 and 3-43, respectively that ripped apart the Karachi Kings middle order.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman played his part dismissing Wade and Irfan Kkan to return figures of 2-28 as Karachi Kings ran out of balls at 173-8.

As someone who didn’t excel at the ISSA Boys and Girls Championships in her home country of Jamaica, Dominique Clarke has gradually made a name for herself at the University at Albany in New York. A sophomore, Clarke is now a two-time America East 60m champion and the 2023 200m champion despite the fact that she is not a fan of running indoors.

At the America East Indoor Championships at the Track at New Balance in Boston just over a week ago, Clarke defended her 60m title, winning in 7.45, 0.10 faster than the time with which she won last year and led her teammates Adaliz Hunt and Rori Lowe in a sweep for UAlbany.

She repeated the feat in the 200m that she won in a championship record of 23.69 with teammates Jazmen Newberry and Lowe also ending up on the podium. It was the first time in UAlbany history that anyone had accomplished that feat.

This was a significant milestone for Clarke, who grew up in the tiny community of Constitution Hill in St Andrew and attended Papine High School where she didn’t even take up track until 2016 while she was in Grade 10.

“In 2019 I didn’t get past the first round because I was hurt and then 2020 Champs got cancelled and that was the first year I broke 12 seconds,” she recalled.

“Champs was one of the hardest things to get a medal at since I started so late in my Class II years.”

Unfortunately, her winning times were not fast enough to qualify her for a place at the NCAA Division 1 championships set to begin on March 10 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. However, she has found a silver lining in the disappointment.

“I did not get to qualify for nationals but I am very grateful,” she told Sportsmax.TV.

“I’ve run the fastest times ever so early in the season. I am looking forward to a better outdoor season because indoor has been great. I’ve never been one to set goals. I just try to be in front of where I was the year before. As long as I am training, I just need to know I am clocking a faster time than last year.”

Notwithstanding the success she has found running indoors at UAlbany, Clarke admits she is not a fan of indoor running but is grateful for the opportunities it has afforded her.

“Everywhere you go you are going to have so pros and cons, some good and bad. At Albany, the weather is the worst part but it has been okay so far. My experiences here at Albany have been great even though my path has sometimes been rocky but I am so grateful that I am here,” she said.

“I don’t really like indoors, the experience has been very hard for me because I am not one of the best starters but if I get it on a day I will run a proper time. It is very hard to compete indoors because it’s way shorter because I am a 100/200 runner. The 200 indoor is not for me either but nevertheless I always try my best because you can’t defeat yourself from the beginning say you can’t do it.”

UAlbany has also given Clarke the chance to develop some of her other skills that she intends to exploit in the years to come.

 “I am majoring in sociology and minor in creative writing,” she said.

“After track of whenever, I am definitely going to write some books because I am a really good poet, many people don’t know that about me. I am also going to write sociology books about the 20^th century those are the things I am interested in.”

It was a dream come true for Tarees Rhoden when he broke Jamaica’s national indoor record on his way to the Atlantic Coast Conference 800m title in Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday.

A junior at Clemson, Rhoden, whose lifetime best prior to Saturday was 1:47. 89, clocked 1:46.61, a personal best and facilities record. The time also broke Alex Morgan’s record of 1:46.70 set in Indianapolis in 1996.

Two weeks prior, Navasky Anderson of Mississippi State ran 1:46.58 at the Music City Challenge in Nashville, Tennessee, which at the time, was deemed to be the new national indoor record.

However, the track at Vanderbilt University on which the time was achieved, is a 300m track which under World Athletics guidelines, meant that Anderson’s record would not be ratified.

The standard indoor track is 200m.

The development meant Morgan’s record would last a fortnight before Rhoden smashed it on Saturday along with the previous fastest time at that track – 1:50.06 – set by Michigan’s Cole Johnson earlier this year.

“I dreamt of days like this for years,” Rhoden remarked while speaking to Sportsmax.TV on Sunday.

He revealed that he and coach Mark Elliott had prepared for this kind of performance and he was just happy that he managed to pull it off.

“It definitely wasn’t a surprise based off my preparations,” said the former Kingston College middle-distance runner.
“I believe in my coach and his training to get me into shape to do great things.”

During the race Rhoden was always aware that his pace would have taken him to the record and was certain his goal would have been achieved after 600m. The way he put it, he had no choice.

“My coach kept shouting. I heard him every single lap,” Rhoden said.

Rhoden’s accomplishment comes under a year since Anderson ran 1:45.02 to shatter Seymour Newman’s national outdoor record of 1:45.30 that had stood since 1977.

He believes that he and Anderson are charting a path for Jamaica’s current middle-distance runners to follow.

“My friend Navasky did it outdoors so he set the standard for the rest of us to follow,” he said. “

We are just staying hungry and trying to put Jamaica on the 800m map.”

Notwithstanding the new personal mark on the weekend, Rhoden is far from finished. With the NCAA nationals coming up in a fortnight, the 22-year-old athlete has plans of going faster in the near future.

“1:45 indoors is the aim,” he said. “More to come.”

The scoring machine named Khadijah ‘Bunny’ Shaw was at it again on Sunday leading Manchester City Women to an 8-1 drubbing of Bristol City in their fifth round FA Women’s Cup match at the Robins High Performance Centre.

Kiara Grant, Oneka Wilson and Ockera Myrie accounted for more than half of Clemson University Women's 68 points at the Atlantic Coast Conference championship that concluded in Louisville, Kentucky, on Saturday night.

In her first conference championships since she transferred from Baylor in the Big 12, Ackera Nugent set a pair of new personal bests in the 60m hurdles and 60m dash as Arkansas crowned themselves SEC champions on Saturday.

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.

Briana Williams has withdrawn from Saturday's 60m dash at the 2023 Gibson/McCook Relays currently ongoing at the National Stadium in Kingston.

According to insiders, the Olympic relay gold medallist was withdrawn as a precautionary measure after feeling some discomfort in training.

Williams was supposed to go up against Kemba Nelson, Tina and Tia Clayton, Kerrica Hill in a much-anticipated early season clash over the short sprint.

Williams opened her season at the Camperdown Classic two weeks ago winning the 60m dash in 7.22s.

In the most anticipated clash between several of Jamaica’s rising-star female sprinters - Briana Williams, Kemba Nelson and Tina Clayton-  are set to compete over 60 metres and the 50^th anniversary of the Gibson/McCook Relays at the National Stadium in Kingston on Saturday.

US$10,000 in prize money has been guaranteed for the winner of the dash that will also include Jonielle Smith, Kerrica Hill, Tia Clayton and Amoi Brown in what promises to be a mouth-watering showdown of exciting young talent.

Since news emerged earlier this week about the potential starters, debate has raged over who will emerge the winner. Will it be Williams, the Tokyo 2020 relay gold-medallist, who boasts a personal best of 7.04 and who opened her season with a 7.22 clocking at the Camperdown Classic two weeks ago, or will it be Nelson, the 2021 NCAA Division 1 Indoor Champion, who is just 0.01 slower at 7.05?

Or, could it be the World U20 100m champion Tina Clayton, who has run 7.24 two weeks ago?

Noted track writer, author and pundit Hubert Lawrence, believes Williams, having already shaken off some of the rust this season, has the edge over her other celebrated rivals.

“Williams has run a 60 already and will be a little more ready for tomorrow’s race,” he opined while analyzing the line-up for Sportsmax.TV on Friday.

“Kemba hasn’t run any races this season and so is now coming back out onto the track since last year. So, it’s sort of a coming out party for her. The Claytons have run before but Williams is just about the best of them.”

Lawrence, who with Michael Grant recently co-authored 50 Days Afire, chronicling the exploits of several of Jamaica’s biggest track stars, says there are other women to look out for in that race. One, in particular, could be a potential dark horse.

“Also in that race is Kashieka Cameron, who ran a 7.3x and looked really good at the Western Relays at GC Foster a few weeks ago. She started out slowly but finished with a rush.

“When I spoke to her she told me she was training really well and even though she is slim she looked like she had a couple extra pounds of muscle compared to the girl who won the Class 1 100m for Edwin Allen at Champs in 2018. So that’s an X-factor.”

The men’s 60m dash could prove to be equaling thrilling with Jamaica’s three fastest men in 2022 -Akeem Blake, Yohan Blake and Oblique Seville – all expected to be among the starters.

The dash should also include Commonwealth Games 200m silver medallist Zharnel Hughes as well as upcoming talents Jeevan Newby and Nigel Ellis.

Lawrence believes that the men’s 60 could be somewhat open based on how well several youngsters have been performing this season.

“On the men’s side, the X-factor is Kadrian Goldson; at the same Western Relays ran 6.57, finished in a rush,” Lawrence said.

Turning his attention to the big guns, Lawrence remarked that there are questions surrounding Seville’s health, which could be a factor in how well he performs on Saturday.

“We know about Akeem Blake, young, fast. Oblique Seville is in the draw, he has not run a race since last year’s Eugene World Championships,” he said.

“If you look back, you saw him there with kinesio-tape on the back of his hamstring and that has caused Coach (Glen) Mills to hold him out of races until he was 100 per cent. Now, he is in the 60m at Gibson. That’s the watching point. Is Goldson the real thing this season and is Oblique Seville all the way back from his injuries and will he put up a performance in the 6.60’s.”

Lawrence added that young Newby could be someone to watch.

“At the Queen’s/Grace Jackson Invitational ran a 6.62 looking back at the end,” Lawrence said.

“He was second at Champs but chose not to go back to high school and has joined the Motorcade Track Club and the sounds I hear coming from them is that Newby is in terrific shape.

“So, Women’s 60, maybe Briana Williams has the edge because she a bit sharper and in the Men’s 60, is Oblique Seville ready to rock and roll in 2023 after a great 2022 season and is Newby going to continue speeding; he and Goldson are the X-factors.”

World Women’s 200m champion Shericka Jackson, keen to improve the first 30 metres of her 100m race, will line up against two of the year’s fastest women at the Birmingham World Indoor Final on Saturday.

Jackson, 28, boasts a personal best of 7.04, a time she ran in the final of the World Indoor Championships in Serbia in March 2022. However, she enters Saturday’s race having a pedestrian season-best 7.34 at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston on February 4.

Her time is significantly slower than the 7.04 run by Dina Asher Smith at the Init Indoor Meeting in Germany on January 27.

Asher-Smith’s compatriot Daryll Neita, the recently crowned British Indoor champion, has also run much faster this season having clocked 7.05 at the ISTAF Indoor Meeting in Berlin on February 10.

Jackson will be hoping for a much improved performance as she gears up for the outdoor season which involves another World Championships in Budapest in August.