TEENAGER Brianna Lyston of Louisiana State University (LSU) signalled she could be a contender for an individual spot on the Jamaica women’s 100m team at this summer’s Olympic Games after she ran a lifetime best 10.91 seconds (0.3m/s) to win on Percy Beard Track inside James G Pressly Stadium on Saturday.

The victory, completed at University of Florida, provided her first South-Eastern Conference (SEC) outdoor conference title.

Lyston, 19, finally had a wind-legal run after two wind-aided performances. She became the 11th-fastest Jamaican woman over the distance and the 23rd to break the 11-second barrier. She completed the SEC double after winning the indoor 60m in March.

The former St Jago High and Hydel High runner, who is the fastest Jamaican woman over the distance this year and first so far to have run under 11 seconds, moved up to number four on the LSU all-time list.

She was fourth in the 200m in 22.37 later on Saturday.

Lyston was one of several Jamaicans who produced outstanding performances over the weekend, across several conference championships. Nickisha Pryce of University of Arkansas ran a mouth-watering 49.32 in the women’s 400m, lowering her 24-hour-old personal best and world-leading mark.

After running 49.72 in the first round Pryce lowered her time even further, tying two-time World Championships silver medallist Shericka “Wire Wire” Williams for the second-best mark ever by a Jamaican. The time is two hundredths of a second behind the national record 49.30 held by Lorraine Fenton since July 2002.

World leader Wayne Pinnock retained his SEC men’s long jump mark with just two attempts, the best of which was 8.09m (0.0m/s); Romaine Beckford won the men’s high jump with 2.22m; and Zayne Palomino of Southern Mississippi University completed the Sunbelt Conference double, winning the men’s outdoor high jump with 2.19m.

Clemson University’s Tarees Rhoden ran a personal-best 1:45.97 minutes to retain his ACC men’s 800m title in Atlanta, Georgia. Dejanae Oakley of University of Texas won the Big 12 women’s 200m in a personal-best 22.60 (-0.2m/s), while Kevona Davis was fourth in a season’s best 22.84.

Nickisha Pryce (Photo: Paul Reid)

Ackelia Smith showed she was back to her best, winning the Big 12 women’s triple jump with an NCAA-leading 13.92m (0.0m/s). Fewer than 24 hours earlier she was third in the long jump that was delayed twice by rain and which eventually started after 11:00 pm.

Gabrielle Matthews lowered her programme record for The University of Mississippi after she won the SEC women’s 400m hurdles with 55.12, fifth best in the NCAA so far and 10th best in the world.

There were some surprises as well after Lamara Distin of Texas A&M University saw her SEC winning run snapped at four straight when she finished third in the high jump with 1.89m, her lowest placing and clearance at a college event since last year when she was second at the NCAA Outdoor championships with 1.87m.

Big 12 indoor champion Kelly-Ann Beckford of University of Houston was beaten into second place in the 800m, running 2:01.33 behind Gabija Galvydyte (2:00.42) of Oklahoma State. Both were under the old meet record 2:02.41.