Sixteen Jamaicans qualify for NCAA Division One outdoor championships

Sixteen Jamaican men are set to compete at next month’s NCAA Division One Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon, after 13 more athletes advanced on the second and final day of the East and West Regional meets.

On Friday, the last day of regional action, the top 12 finishers in each region secured automatic places at the championships. Jamaican discus throwers delivered the strongest showing, with four advancing from the East and two more going through from the West.

At the East Regional in Lexington, Kentucky, Shamar Reid of Florida State University headed the Jamaican qualifiers with a 64.22-metre effort, the best mark in the field. Trevor Gunzell of the University of Alabama followed in second with 61.77m, while Louisiana State University’s Chad Hendricks was seventh with 58.30m and Auburn’s Christopher Young placed eighth with 58.26m.

In Fayetteville, Arkansas, at the West Regional, Jamaicans also claimed the top two discus marks. Ralford Mullings of the University of Oklahoma threw 64.51 metres, and Racquil Broderick of the University of South Carolina was next with 62.66m.

Apalos Edwards added another field-event qualification, finishing third in the men’s triple jump at the West Regional for Kansas State University with a leap of 16.65 metres.

On the track, six Jamaicans earned championship berths, led by Tyrice Taylor in the 800 metres. Competing for the University of Arkansas in the West, Taylor ran 1:44.35 in his heat to finish as the leading qualifier in the event. His Arkansas teammate Rivaldo Marshall also won his heat, clocking 1:45.10 for third overall.

Other West qualifiers were Baylor’s Demario Prince, Texas A&M’s Kimar Farquharson and Arkansas’ Jerome Campbell. Prince won his 110m hurdles heat in 13.22 seconds, making him the fourth-fastest qualifier overall, while Campbell placed third in his heat in 13.42 seconds and advanced ninth overall. Farquharson moved on in the 400m after taking second in his heat in 45.30 seconds, the sixth-fastest qualifying time.

Clemson sprint hurdler Sharvis Simmonds was the only Jamaican track qualifier from the East. He finished third in his 110m hurdles heat in 13.39 seconds, ranking seventh overall.

The 13 athletes who qualified on Friday joined three Jamaicans who had already advanced on Wednesday’s opening day. LSU’s Jordan Turner was third in the long jump with 7.91 metres, Shaquain Dunn of the University of Texas was ninth in the shot put with 18.81 metres, and Oregon’s Kobe Lawrence placed 12th in the shot put with 18.69m.