Jamaicans Briana Campbell of Life University in Georgia and Tajean Houston of Texas Wesleyan University were named National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Athletes of the Week after outstanding performances last weekend.

Campbell, formerly of St Jago High, wasted no time to adjusting to indoors as she had a phenomenal day at the Bob Pollock Invitational at Clemson University, breaking the NAIA women’s 60m hurdles mark and running the second-best time ever in the 200m.

Campbell, who was part of Jamaica’s gold medal-winning 4x100m relay team at last year’s World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Lima, Peru, clocked a scintillating 8.18 seconds in the semi-finals of the women’s 60m hurdles. She broke the NAIA record of 8.20 held by former Edwin Allen High and Rusea’s High runner Salieci Myles of William Carey University. In the first round she had run 8.22.

On the second day of the meet, after bypassing the final of the 60m hurdles, she ran 24.11 to win her section of the women’s 200m, and took over second spot in the NAIA rankings, just 0.01 seconds off the lead.

Former Kingston College student Houston, the reigning NAIA champion, won the men’s 60 metres hurdles Invitational final with a personal best and school record 7.71.

His time was the second-best all time in the NAIA, just 0.01 off the record.

Thirty minutes before the final he had equalled his previous personal best 7.77, lowering his then NAIA leading 7.87.

— Paul A Reid