J'cans Green, Williams top US track awards

BY PAUL BURROWES Observer writer

Saturday, June 05, 2010

JAMAICANS Leford Green and Shermaine Williams, junior student-athletes of NCAA Division Two team Johnson C Smith University, were this week named Atlantic Region Male and Female Track Athlete of the Year by the US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

The 23-year-old Green also capped a distinguished season by also being named by the USTFCCCA as National Division Two Male Track of the Year.

On the Atlantic Region award, the USTFCCCA said: "Green... was the nation's leader in three events heading into the NCAA II Championships. Green clocked 20.68 over 200 metres, 45.88 over 400 metres, and 49.56 in the 400m hurdles."

The Bridgeport High and Kingston College past student also anchored Johnson C Smith to the second-best mark among 4x400m relay squads. He was also the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) champ in the 400m hurdles earlier this season.

At the NCAA Division II Championships held at Johnson C Smith, at Charlotte, North Carolina, Green placed second in the 400m in 45.68 seconds, behind defending champion Joshua Scott of St Augustine, and ran a blazing 48.67 seconds to win the 400m hurdles. Only 2005 world champion Bershawn Jackson has run faster (48.50) at the NCAA Division Two Championships.

Given those achievements, Green was also named the National Division Two Male Track Athlete of the Year.

For the 20-year-old Shermaine Williams, a World Junior Championships and a World Youth Championships silver medallist, she "won a second-straight NCAA Championship in the 100m hurdles, clutching victory over Adams State's Indira Spence (another Jamaican) by an eyelash in a 13.14 to 13.15 photo finish".

The best of Williams is yet to come, with a personal bests in the 60m, 100m, 200m this year. She ran her personal best 13.06 metres in the 100m hurdles last year for a new national junior record.