FEWER than 12 hours after running 1:45.02 minutes at the NCAA outdoors national championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, to break the 45-year-old Jamaican men’s 800m record and also qualify for the World Athletics Championships, Navasky Anderson of Mississippi State was unable to choose which of the feats was better.

The former St Jago High runner was still buzzing from his brilliant run as he eclipsed the 1:45.30 that was set in May 1977 in Kingston by Seymour Newman, as well as from lowering his previous lifetime best 1:45.8 that he set when he won the SEC outdoors title last month.

“It’s pretty high on my list to qualify for the World Championships,” he told the Jamaica Observer yesterday. “And breaking a national record that lasted for 45 years, I can’t choose,” Anderson expressed.

When he goes to the start line for the first round of the men’s 800m on July 20, also at Hayward Field, he will be the first Jamaican man advancing to the semi-finals in a global 800m championships since 1976 when Newman competed in the Montreal Olympics.

Before that, George Kerr had placed fourth in the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, while Clive Terrelonge had qualified for the 1995 World Indoor Championships.

On Friday Anderson, who had won his semi-final heat on Wednesday, just failed to catch Moad Zahafi of Texas Tech who won in 1:44.49 seconds, with Texas A&M’s Brandon Miller third in 1:45.09 seconds.

Anderson told the Sunday Observer he expected to break the record “most definitely; that was always the plan and after all the hard work. I applied myself and executed my skills and knowledge of the event”.

He appeared to have been boxed in early in the race and had to fight his way out of a group over the last 200m, but said he had “no regrets” about his race tactics.

“I will take what I learned from that race and use it to my benefit next time.”

It’s one day at a time, he said. His next race should be at the Jamaican championships next week.

“I just hope to stay healthy and we will see where it goes,” he shared, adding he won’t commit to the Commonwealth Games that starts in Birmingham, UK — two weeks after the World Championships — until he sits down with his head coach.

Meanwhile, Jamaicans had two third-place finishes on the final day of competition for the men at the NCAA Nationals — Ralford Mullings of Arizona State in the discus throw and Apalos Edwards in the triple jump.

Mullings, the former Kingston College athlete, threw 62.46m while Roje Stona was ninth with 58.85m, both earning first team All-American designations.

Kevin Nedrick of Liberty University was 11th overall with 58.28m and Nathan Reid of the University of Wyoming was 23rd with 49.80m.

Edwards, the former Jamaica College jumper, was a surprise third in the triple jump with a personal best 16.39m (1.2m/s). Safin Wills of Purdue was 15th with 15.86m (0.1m/s) and Owayne Owens of the University of Virginia was 19th with 15.80m (0.3m/s).

Lafranz Campbell of Clemson ran a personal best 13.45 seconds (0.0m/s) for fifth in the 110m hurdles, Jevaugn Powell of UTEP was seventh in the 400m in 45.81 seconds, and Romaine Beckford of the University of South Florida was 13th in the high jump with 2.15m.