Domonique Williams and Jereem Richards captured National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Indoor Track and Field Championship titles, in New Mexico, USA, on Saturday.
Richards stopped the clock at 46.70 seconds to win the men’s 400 metres final. The South Plains College student had clocked 47.85 in the qualifying round. Central Arizona College freshman, Ruebin Walters was 21st overall in 49.59.
Williams was the class of the field in the women’s 400m final, the South Plains athlete earning gold in 53.84 seconds. Another Trinidad and Tobago runner, Western Texas College’s Marissa Gale bagged bronze in 55.29.
Walters secured bronze in the men’s 60m hurdles with a 7.88 seconds run. In the qualifying round, he had clocked a personal best 7.77.
In the women’s 200m finals, New Mexico Junior College freshman Kayelle Clarke was fourth in 23.86 seconds, while Williams and Gale were fifth and sixth, respectively, clocking 24.24 and 24.31.
In the preliminaries, Gale got home in 24.23 seconds, Williams produced a 24.39 run, and Clarke clocked 24.40. South Plains College sprinter, Aaliyah Telesford was 26th overall in 25.63.
Central Arizona College thrower Hezekiel Romeo finished fourth in the men’s shot put with a 16.91 metres effort.
John Mark Constantine clocked 6.85 seconds for seventh spot in the men’s 60m final. The Western Texas College sprinter was faster in the qualifying round, getting to the line in 6.75.
Telesford was seventh in the women’s 60m final in 10.49 seconds. She had clocked 7.50 in the preliminaries. Central Arizona College’s Akila McShine was 19th overall in 7.84.
McShine’s 8.66 run in the qualifying round of the women’s 60m hurdles earned her a lane in the final as the third fastest qualifier. However, she did not face the starter in the championship race.
Williams captured three gold medals at the NJCAA Championships. In addition to her individual 400m triumph, she helped South Plains earn the women’s distance medley and 4x400m titles.
Williams ran the second leg (400m) in the distance medley, helping her school to a 12 minutes, 17.58 seconds clocking. And in the 4x4, she performed lead-off duties, setting the stage for a 3:43.32 South Plains run. Gale ran the second leg for fifth-placed Western Texas College (3:50.99).
South Plains won the women’s team title with 147.5 points. New Mexico (73), Central Arizona (65) and Western Texas (30) were third, fourth and eighth, respectively.
South Plains also emerged victorious in the men’s team competition, Richards and company accumulating 136 points. Central Arizona were second with 116, while Western Texas (33) finished ninth.
At the ECAC/IC4A Indoor Championships, in Boston, Coppin State University’s Deandra Daniel cleared the bar at a personal best 1.87 metres to capture the women’s high jump title.
Temple University’s Kiersten LaRoche finished 11th in the women’s long jump with a 5.49m leap and 21st in the 60m hurdles in 8.93 seconds.
Haysean Cowie-Clarke clocked 7.10 for 23rd spot in the men’s 60m dash. And his Coppin State teammate, Mark London was 28th in the men’s 800m in 1:54.95.
At the Marc Randle Classic outdoor meet, in Texas, Dan-Neil Telesford finished third in the men’s 400m in 48.72 seconds and sixth in the 200m in 22.05. His Wiley College teammate, Quinn-Lee Ralph was fourth in the men’s 200m in 21.61 and 11th in the 100m in 10.99.