Jamaican shot putter Courtney Lawrence of Cloud County Community College in Kansas and Iowa Western Community College’s Assistant Coach Shellene Williams-Davis were this week recognised for their outstanding indoor season by the National Junior College Athletics Association (NJCAA) in their postseason awards.

Lawrence, the former Petersfield High School Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association(ISSA) “Champs” winner, was named the Men’s Indoor Track & Field National Field Athlete of the Year, while Williams-Davis was named National Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year.

Three Jamaican athletes — Lawrence, Romaine Beckford of South Plains (Texas) and Nickisha Pryce of Iowa Western, who were winners at the recent NJCAA national indoor track and field championships — were singled out for their dominance in their events.

Lawrence, the Penn Relays boys’ high school shot put champion in 2019, left his mark as one of the best shot putters in NJCAA history as he notched six of the best marks of all time, including the second best 18.92m recorded at the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference (KJCCC) invitational on January 31.

On his way to winning the NJCAA championships in Pittsburg, Kansas, last weekend, he took over the number three spot with his winning throw of 18.83m and the number five 18.69m earlier.

Williams-Davis, a former Vere Technical High School stand-out, guided her athletes to 11 All-America honours at the NJCAA indoor championships, which included event titles in the 400 (Nickisha Pryce, 53.38 seconds) and a meet-clinching 4×400m relay in 3:44.75 seconds and also played a big part in Iowa Western capturing the team title at the NJCAA Region XI/Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) Indoor Championships by a 151-point margin.

Lawrence also picked up the male field events award for the Central Region, high jumper Beckford, who attended Buff Bay High School, won the male field events award for the Western Region, after being ranked number one in the high jump and winning the NJCAA title.

He is undefeated this season and sits seventh on the All-College List this season, combining athletes from every collegiate division in the United States.

Pryce, the former Vere Technical athlete, took the female track events award for the Midwest Region, ranking number one nationally in the 200m (23.71 seconds) and the 400m (55.07 seconds), setting NJCAA Region XI records in both of those events this year.

— Paul Reid