A number of Jamaican ladies who were on show on the final day of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 Outdoor Track and Field Championships turned in sterling performances, which included three first-place finishes at the Mike A Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas.

Janeek Brown, Shardia Lawrence, and Jazmine Fray were first-place finishers, while Shanice Love was a second-place finisher. There were creditable performances from Shadae Lawrence, Venique Harris, and Kiara Grant on a day of outstanding track and field at the University of Texas.

Brown was probably the most impressive of the lot as she broke the Jamaican women’s 100m hurdles record of 12.45s held by Bridgitte Foster-Hylton since 2003, when she sped to another personal best time of 12.40s.

Out of the blocks like a bullet from a gun, the Arkansas sophomore executed a race similar to her semi-final win, blazing away from the field to celebrate in her now familiar style with a chest pump at the end. It was 10 big points for the Razorbacks in the hunt for the title.

Brown would then deliver more points for her team with a fourth-place finish in the 200m final with another personal best of 22.40s. Third-place finisher Cambrea Sturgis of North Carolina A&T was credited with the same time as Brown, while the race was won by the defending champion Anglerne Annelus of USC (22.16), who caught Sha’Carri Richardson of LSU (22.17) on the line, in a very exciting duel. The top four women ran personal best times in the final.

Earlier in the 100m, Grant of Norfolk State improved upon her personal best time when she ended sixth in the final with 11.04s to reclaim the Jamaican junior national record. That record lasted a mere 10 minutes as Briana Williams reclaimed the record with an 11.02 run in a meet elsewhere.

That 100m final was another special event at the NCAA Championships as Sha’Carri Richardson sped to a personal best, world lead, meet record, and world junior record of 10.75s in a fine exhibition of female sprinting. Left in her wake was Kayla White of North Carolina A&T (10.95) and Twanisha Terry of USC (10.98).

Jazmine Fray of Texas A&M was a wire-to-wire winner in the 800m final in a season’s best and facility record of 2:01.31. Nia Akins of Penn State ran a personal best of 2:01.67 for second while a season’s best 2:02.20 from Avi’ Tal Wilson-Perteete of UNLV got her third place.

In the field, Shardia Lawrence of Kansas State finally finished at the top of the podium in the triple jump. The six-year veteran stole the top spot from Yanis David of Florida (13.93m) when she produced a lifetime best of 13.99m on her very last effort as a collegiate athlete. It was a storybook ending for the former Vere Technical and Hydel High student.

While Shardia was battling for triple jump honours, her twin sister Shadae was giving it her best in the discus. Three Jamaicans contested the finals with all of them ending up in the top six from a field of 24 throwers.

Shanice Love of FSU threw a personal best 62.69m to finish runner-up to Laulauga Tausaga of Iowa who also threw a personal best 63.26m for first place. Shadae who came into the meet very confident after throwing a personal best and Jamaican record of 65.05m had to settle for third with a best of 60.32m on the day. Venique Harris of Albany finished sixth with 56.89m as the Jamaican athletes left a mark on the championships.

The very exciting event came to a dramatic conclusion with the running of the final race. Defending champions USC and Arkansas were locked on points heading into the 4×400. The Razorbacks were able to keep their heads and finished second behind Texas A&M to snatch the title away from their rivals. A baton spill resulted in USC coming home last.

Arkansas finished first with 64 points, USC were second with 57, LSU third with 43, Texas A&M fourth with 38, and Oregon rounded out the top five with 34.

— Dwayne Richards