Impressive US wins for T&T duo
Lalonde Gordon continued his fine run of form this season with a world-leading time in the men's 200 metres, at the Terrier Invitational in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, on Saturday. The Trinidad and Tobago athlete earned gold with a 20.58 seconds sizzler.
Already at the top of the 2012 IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) indoor 400m world list with the 46.43 seconds run he produced in New York two Saturdays ago, Gordon is now the 200m world-leader as well.
The 20.58 clocking is an indoor best for Gordon, and is also faster than his outdoor best--20.67.
Gordon also competed in the 60m dash in Boston. The 23-year-old athlete clocked 6.94 seconds in the preliminary round to advance to the final as the sixth fastest qualifier. However, he opted to sit out the championship race.
Jamaal James opened his season with a third-place finish in the men's 800m, the T&T half-miler getting home in one minute, 49.08 seconds.
At the US Open, in New York, T&T's 2009 World Championship 400m bronze medallist Renny Quow won the men's 600-yard event in a personal best one minute, 11.20 seconds. The impressive opener at Madison Square Garden is a positive sign in the build-up to the 2012 London Olympics.
Quow overhauled American Bershawn "Batman" Jackson late in Saturday's race to claim gold. Jackson, the 2005 400m hurdles world champion, was forced to settle for silver in 1:11.31. US Virgin Islands quarter-miler, Tabarie Henry (1:11.75) picked up bronze.
Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell won the men's 50m dash in 5.64 seconds, beating his compatriot Nesta Carter (5.67) into second spot. And another Jamaican, Veronica Campbell-Brown topped the women's 50m field in 6.08.
At the Jack Jennett Invite, in Iowa, T&Tsprinter Reyare Thomas triumphed in the women's 60m dash. The Iowa Central Community College student clocked 7.52 seconds.
In Nebraska, University of Georgia field athlete Hilenn James captured the Mark Colligan Memorial women's shot put title with a 15.40 metres heave.
At the Penn State National Invitational, in Pennsylvania, Aleesha Barber seized women's 60m hurdles silver in 8.17 seconds. Kiersten LaRoche finished 16th in the women's pentathlon, the Temple University freshman accumulating 3,025 points in the five-discipline event.
Jarrin Solomon clocked 46.93 seconds to bag bronze in the New Mexico Collegiate Invitational men's 400m event. Abilene Christian University (ACU) student, Karla Hope was fourth in the women's 400m in 56.90. Another T&T/ACU athlete, Osei Alleyne-Forte finished fourth in his section and 18th overall in the men's 200m in 22.67 seconds.
At the Texas A&M Mondo Challenge, Texas Tech University student Dellon Williams earned bronze in the men's triple jump with a 15.49m effort. University of Tennessee sprinter, Jamol James clocked 22.14 seconds for 13th spot overall in the men's 200m.
McNeese State University athlete, Ashlee Smith threw 16.15m to finish third in the Arkansas State Invitational women's weight throw. She was fourth in the shot put (13.46m).
Emmanuel Stewart copped fourth spot in the Spire Midwest Open men's weight throw with a 16.57m effort. The Morgan State University student also competed in the shot put, throwing 13.91m to cop 10th spot. And at the Wesley A. Brown Invitational, in Maryland, University of Maryland athlete Shawn David finished eighth in the men's 400m in 49.57 seconds.
-Kwame Laurence
Source: www.trinidadexpress.com