She is one of the fastest women in the world in the 100m hurdles but Ackera Nugent, the second-fastest Jamaican woman on the planet this year, is not considering turning professional just yet. According to the reigning World U20 champion, getting an education is among her goals and she still has unfinished business as a collegiate athlete.

Nugent, 20, who completed her sophomore year at Baylor University in May, ran a personal best of 12.45 at the Big 12 Championships in Lubbock, Texas on May 15.

The time, which she shares with Jamaican champion Britany Anderson, is the sixth-fastest in the world this year. Only Texas Tech’s Demisha Roswell’, who ran 12.44 to beat Nugent at the Big 12 Championships has run faster.

Notwithstanding, what is a significant accomplishment, Nugent is focused on completing her education at Baylor where she is majoring in Psychology.

“Basically, having an education with track is very important, so if I decide to go pro, I’d still be going to school but I have only ran 12.4 once and I haven’t run healthy, so I have decided that I should come back to college and focus on trying to get an outdoor NCAA title,” said the 2021 NCAA National Indoor champion.

Two years of college, she said, have been a great learning experience for her.

“It has taught me a lot. That I need to expect the unexpected, that you will have your highs and lows but you have to get up and do what you have to do, especially not having your family around you, your support system and when you have to put your trust in a coaching staff, a medical team,” she explained.

“It has helped me grow so much. I am more mature and Baylor is helping me grow into the amazing athlete that I think I am today.”

Nugent shut down her season in June after tearing her plantar fascia in regionals earlier this year. The decision saw her miss the NCAA Division I nationals in Oregon and also the Jamaica National Championships at the end of June.

Player of the Match Nicholas Pooran and Kyle Mayers scored half-centuries as the West Indies defeated Bangladesh by five wickets to take their three-match T20 series 2-0 on Thursday.

Corey Bennett has been appointed the head track and field coach at Calabar High School, the school announced Wednesday.

Bennett replaces Michael Clarke, whose tenure at the Red Hills Road high school, ended with his resignation in March. Clarke led Calabar High to nine of their 28 titles at the ISSA Boys and Girls’ Championships.

Bennett was head coach at Hydel High School, transforming them into a perennial contender challenging Edwin Allen’s dominance of the championships over the last decade. He was also an assistant coach at St Jago High School and Wolmer’s Boys.

Bennett has big shoes to fill at Calabar, the second most successful high school at Boys Champs if he is to equal or surpass Clarke’s legacy.

According to a statement released by Calabar on Wednesday, the new head coach will be responsible for “leading and managing the track and field programme and for coaching the team within the established school guidelines.”

The statement continued: “It is expected that he will build on the well-established foundation laid by his predecessors to hone and execute, along with his team, a competitive programme that is marked by exemplary sportsmanship, athletic excellence and unquestioned integrity while safeguarding the educational welfare of the student-athletes, all within the framework of  the school’s mission.”

In recent years, Bennett has been instrumental in the development of some of jamaica's most outstanding junior athletes including NCAA 400m silver medallist Charokee Young, Carifta 2022 200m champion Brianna Lyston, Kerrica Hill and Alana Reid.

Bennett was recently the head coach of Jamaica's team for the 49th edition of the Carifta Games held in Kingston in April.

Jamaica won a record 92 medals at the championships including 45 gold medals.

Harbour View FC claimed their fifth Premier League title 6-5 on penalties over first-time finalists Dunbeholden in the 2022 Jamaica Premier League final at Sabina Park on Sunday.

West Indies batting great Shivnarine Chanderpaul has been appointed head coach of the USA’s Women senior and U19 teams on an 18-month contract.

man of the Match Rovman Powell scored a quick-fire unbeaten half-century as the West Indies sealed a 35–run victory in the second T20 International against Bangladesh and take a 1-0 lead in their three-match series in Dominica on Sunday.

Chasing 194 for victory, Bangladesh scored 158-6 off their 20 overs.

Shakib al Hasan’s unbeaten 68 took the tourists close but the West Indies bowlers were always on top, notwithstanding a few big overs for Bangladesh near the end.

Romario Shepherd took 2-38 and Obed McCoy, who took wickets with the first two balls he bowled in the match, returned figures of 2-37, 20 of them conceded in the 19^th over of the match.

Shakib, who during the match, became the only batsman to score 2000 runs and take more than 100 wickets in T20 history, featured in partnerships of 53 with Afif Hossain who scored 34 from 27 balls. The latter was dismissed as the visitors slumped to 78-4 in the 11^th over.

Shakib and Mossadek Hossain added another 53 for the sixth wicket but with the required run rate steadily climbing, Bangladesh’s chances of victory seemed remote.

The West Indies won the toss and chose to bat, scoring 193-5 from their 50 overs.

Brandon King scored 50 as the West Indies sought to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series after the first match on Saturday ended in a no-result because of rain.

After losing Shamarh Brooks for a duck and Kyle Mayers for 17, King and Captain Nicholas Pooran shared in a third-wicket stand of 74.

Pooran smashed three fours and a six in his 30-ball 34 before he was trapped lbw by Mossadek Hossain. His departure saw the arrival of his vice-captain, who after a tentative start exploded against the Bangladesh attack.

Powell and King shared in a 63-run fourth-wicket partnership from just 29 balls when King whose 50 came up off 36 balls with six fours and a six, got out caught by Shakib Al Hasan trying to hit Shoriful Islam over the boundary.

Powell, meantime, showed little mercy racing to 50 from 20 balls. Twenty-three of those runs came in the 16 over when he hit Shakib for three sixes and a four. He remained unbeaten on 61 from just 28 balls. He hit two fours and six sixes, the last of which came from the last ball of the innings when he clubbed Shoriful over the deep midwicket boundary.

Romario Shepherd made three and was replaced by Odean Smith, who hit the third ball of the final over to end unbeaten on 11 from just four balls.

Shoriful returned figures of 2-40 while there was a wicket each for Shakib (1-38), Mahedi Hasan (1-31) and Mossadek (1-0).

Andrenette Knight, Rasheed Dwyer and Chanice Porter were among the winners at the American Track League meeting in Marietta, Georgia on Saturday. There were also podium places for quarter-milers Rusheen McDonald, Demish Gaye as well as shot putter O’Dayne Richards.

Jhaniele Fowler scored 58 goals on Sunday to lead the West Coast Fever to the 2022 Suncorp Super Netball title following a keenly contested 70-59 victory over the Melbourne Vixens at the RAC Arena.

It was the Fever’s first league title in 25 years after losing in the finals in 2018 and 2020.

Fowler, who was recently appointed captain of Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls, missed one shot and got support from finals MVP Sasha Glasgow, who shot a perfect four for four from the field but who also hit four of her nine super shots. She also had 26 goal assists.

The Fever never trailed at the intervals having led 18-14 at the end of the first quarter and took a six-point lead (35-29) into half-time.

By the end of the third quarter, the Fever extended the lead to nine points after winning the interval 19-16 before closing out the championship outscoring their opponents 16-14 in the final stanza.

Mwai Kemwenda was outstanding for the Vixens scoring 28 of her 29 attempts while Keira Austin missed only two of her 19 shots during the contest.

The victory, which gave Fowler her first hold on the Super League title, capped another outstanding season for the four-time Fever MVP. Heading into the final, Fowler led the league in scoring – 804 goals, goal attempts (833), offensive rebounds (46) and Nissan Net Points (1438).

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Shericka Jackson, Yohan Blake and Oblique Seville lead a strong 64-member Jamaica team named to compete at the 2022 World Athletics Championships from July 15-24, 2022. Also included as first-timers are 800m champion Navasky Anderson and Adelle Tracey, who will compete in both 800 and 1500m.

Tracey, an American-born middle distance runner, who also represented Great Britain, recently received her official status as a Jamaican athlete. Tracey, who spent a part of her early childhood in the parish of Manchester, will join newly crowned national champion Chrisann Gordon Powell and eight-time national champion Natoya Goule in the 800m.

Meanwhile, Fraser-Pryce, Thompson-Herah, Jackson and Kemba Nelson, will contest the 100m with Briana Williams listed as an alternate. Fraser-Pryce, Jackson and Thompson-Herah will take on the 200m with Natalliah Whyte named as the alternate.

Seville, Blake and Ackeem Blake will run in the 100m. Jelani Walker is listed as the alternate. However, Andrew Hudson, who won the 200m at Jamaica’s national championships last weekend misses out as he remains ineligible to compete for Jamaica until July 28, four days after the championships end in Eugene, Oregon.

In his stead, Akeem Bloomfield will compete in the 200m alongside Rasheed Dwyer and Yohan Blake.

Candice McLeod, Stephenie-Ann McPherson and Charokee Young will compete in the 400m with Stacey-Ann Williams named as the alternate. Jevaughn Powell, Nathon Allen and Christopher Taylor will take on the men’s event.

Demisha Roswell, the fastest Jamaican woman over 100m hurdles this year, is named as an alternate to national champion Britany Anderson, Megan Tapper and Danielle Williams. Damion Thomas is the alternate in the 110m hurdles that will be represented by Olympic champion Hansle Parchment, Rasheed Broadbell and Orlando Bennett.

There is also good news for Andrenette Knight, the fastest Jamaican woman over the 400m hurdles this year. Knight, who has run 53.39 this season, is the alternate in the event that Janieve Russell, Shian Salmon and Rushell Clayton will compete in at the championships.

For the first time ever, Jamaica will have two female high jumpers at a world championship as NCAA champion Lamara Distin and Kimberly Williamson, were both selected.

Chanice Porter has been selected for the long jump while defending champion Tajay Gayle has been selected along with NCAA champion Wayne Pinnock. Gayle injured his knee at the national championships and is in a race against time to prove his fitness.

Shanieka Ricketts, Kimberly Williams and Ackelia Smith will represent Jamaica in the triple jump while Jordan Scott will compete in the men’s event.

Danielle Thomas-Dodd and Lloydricia Cameron will contest the shot put for women. Samantha Hall competes in the discus while national champion Traves Smikle, world championship silver medallist Fedrick Dacres, and Chad Wright are set to compete among the men.

Jamaica will field strong 4x100m relay squads at the championships as Fraser-Pryce, Thompson-Herah, Jackon and Nelson will form the core of the team along with Olympic gold medallist Williams and Remona Burchell.

The men’s squad is comprised of Blake, Blake, Seville, Jelani Walker, Kemar Bailey-Cole and Conroy Jones.

The 4x400m squads will be comprised of McLeod, Young, McPherson, Williams, Roneisha McGregor and Natalliah Whyte while the men’s squad will include Powell, Allen, Taylor, Karayme Bartley, Javon Francis and Anthony Cox.

Junelle Bromfield, Tiffany James, Akeem Bloomfield and St Jago High School runner Gregory Prince will form the mixed relay team.

Sprintec head coach Maurice Wilson has been appointed technical director of the contingent and he will have Paul Francis, Bertland Cameron, Lennox Graham, Julian Robinson, Marlon Gayle, Reynaldo Walcott, Lamar Richards and Gregory Little as his team of coaches.

Jamaican long jump duo Wayne Pinnock and Carey McLeod will represent the University of Arkansas in the coming season of NCAA Track and Field.

Anderson Peters set a new meet record in the javelin while there were podium places for Rushell Clayton and Kyron McMaster at the Diamond League meeting in Stockholm, Sweden on Thursday.

Shericka Jackson sizzling performance on Sunday’s final day of Jamaica’s National Senior Championships made her the third fastest woman over 200m in history. Only Florence Girrifth-Joyner (21.34) and Elaine Thompson-Herah (21.53) have run faster than the 27-year-old Olympic bronze medallist.

The lifetime best 200m time also moved her above Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas as the best active combination sprinter in history by virtue of her times of 10.76 in the 100m, 21.55 and 49.47 in the 400m.

Only East Germany’s Marita Koch (10.83/21.71/47.60), Griffith-Joyner (10.49/21.34/50.89) and Marion Jones (10.65/21.62/49.59) are ranked higher than the affable Jamaica sprinter, who revealed that the jaw-dropping run on Sunday that left Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah (22.05) and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (22.140 trailing in her wake, was the result of a lot of hard work.

“I have been working really hard on running the curve. I wanted to do that and I know that once I ran that curve and execute properly, just to relax down the home stretch, I knew I would have run fast but this fast I never expected it but I am grateful,” she said afterwards.

The bad news for the rest of the world is that Jackson believes she has even more speed in those powerful legs of hers, the speed that the world is likely to see at the World Athletics Championships that begin in Eugene, Oregon on July 15.

“The curve is one of the things I want to master. I think I did pretty good tonight. So many mistakes made so I know definitely coach will correct them,” she said.

“I never wanted to put any pressure on myself. People out there will put pressure but listening to my coach, execute properly, I know I can go faster.”

As he set out to qualify for this summer’s World Athletics Championships in the United States, Trinidad and Tobago’s Jereem Richards had set a goal to run below 20 seconds in the 200m at the National Association of Athletics Administrations (NGC/NAAA) Open Championships.

On Sunday, he delivered.

Richards, the 2022 World Indoor 400m champion, sped to a fast 19.83 to win the half-lap sprint on the final day of the championships hence securing his spot to Oregon in July. It was a new lifetime best and the fastest time ever run over the distance on Trinidadian soil.

The time was run in virtually still but rainy conditions as the trailing wind was measured at 0.3m/s. None of that mattered to Richards, who has been in good form this season. “I was not concerned about the weather. I was just ready to run fast,” said the 28-year-old Richards who is also intent on defending his Commonwealth Games title after the World Championships conclude on July 24.

Kyle Greaux ran 20.56s for second place while 400m champion Dwight St Hillaire ran 20.68 for third.

Kemar Roach took his 250^th Test wicket as the West Indies closed in on victory against Bangladesh in St Lucia on Sunday.

Shericka Jackson ran the third-fastest time in history to cap an outstanding campaign at Jamaica’s National Senior Athletics Championships on Sunday.