Ashani Smith takes international men's 100m at JAAA championships

Ashani Smith returned from a quarterfinal setback to win the international men's 100 metres on day two of the JAAA/PUMA National Junior and Senior Championships, crossing the line in 10.30 seconds with a wind reading of minus 0.1 metres per second.

Smith, 27, led a field that included several Jamaican athletes brought in to fill the lanes for what was billed as an international race. The former national junior champion, crowned in 2017, had posted a season-best 10.22 earlier this year but finished fourth in his quarterfinal the previous night in a minus 2.7 wind and failed to reach the semifinals. He made the most of a second chance in this contest, getting out strongly and holding off late pressure to take the win.

Jordan Morgan of Dynamic Speed was second in 10.35, with Jaze Whitter third in 10.36. Mario Williams finished fourth in 10.52, Javoy Tucker fifth in 10.58, and Vincentian Makish Compton sixth in 10.62. Marcus Zepherin of the Turks and Caicos Islands was seventh in 10.87.

Compton, 29, holds his country's 60-metre record. Tucker entered with the fastest personal best in the field at 10.08, set in 2018. Whitter ran the opening leg on Jamaica's gold-medal-winning team at the World Under-20 Championships in Lima, Peru, two years ago.

Williams had appeared set to advance from the preliminary round when electronic times were posted, but fell outside a qualifying place once hand times were confirmed. Smith, Tucker, Compton and Morgan were among those who separated themselves over the closing metres, with the top three finishing clearly ahead of the rest of the pack.