Demario Prince wins first national 110m hurdles title in 13.13 at JAAA championships

Demario Prince captured his first Jamaican national 110 metres hurdles title on the fourth day of the JAAA/PUMA National Junior and Senior Championships, running 13.13 — one hundredth of a second outside his lifetime best of 13.12 and comfortably under the 13.20 mark widely regarded as world-class in the event.

Prince entered as the favourite with the fastest seasonal time in the field at 13.15. Shaquille Gordon shot to an early lead from lane three, with Jerome Campbell also moving well through the opening barriers, but Prince took charge around the fifth hurdle and pulled away without being seriously threatened. He leaned at the line to confirm a maiden national crown.

Campbell, representing the University of Arkansas, held second place in 13.35, two hundredths shy of his season best of 13.33. Clemson's Xavier Simmons finished third in 13.39. Gordon matched his personal best of 13.44 in fourth, LaFrance Campbell of TRS was fifth in 13.48, and veteran Hansle Parchment crossed sixth in a season-best 13.58.

The eight-lane final brought together several of Jamaica's top collegiate and club hurdlers. Parchment, 36, lined up in lane one as the most decorated athlete on the start list — a 2011 World University Games champion, 2012 Olympic bronze medallist, twice a world championship silver medallist, Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medallist, Diamond League champion, and former national record holder still ranked among the 16 fastest men ever over the distance. Stern of Louisiana State University occupied lane two with a 13.27 personal best and a 7.64 indoor mark this year. Gordon, the US junior college champion, opened from lane three with a best legal time of 13.44. Andre Harris of Era Track Club, linked to the Legacy St. Jago programme, had run 13.66 this season and 13.85 in qualifying. Campbell and Prince, both with Arkansas ties and recent world indoor championship experience, shared lanes five and six; Prince had twice reached the indoor world final and carried a 13.12 personal best. Simmons, a 23-year-old Clemson athlete with a 13.37 best, and former Calabar captain LaFrance Campbell, whose lifetime best is 13.30, completed the field.

Commentary ahead of the race noted that only three Jamaican men have broken 13 seconds in the hurdles, with marks of 12.94, Hansle Parchment's 12.93, and Omar McLeod's 12.90. Prince's winning run keeps him among the athletes pushing toward that elite bracket. He had been in the field when Jacoby Tharpe set a world record of 12.75 at an NCAA semi-final, and observers said his 13.13 performance marked a turning point after he narrowly missed last year's outdoor world championship final despite consecutive indoor world final appearances.