KINGSTON Jamaica — Former Jamaican national junior representative Bovel McPherson set a New Mexico Junior College program record (44.78 seconds) to win the men’s 400m on Thursday’s first day of the Corky/Crofoot Shootout at Fuller Track and Field Complex, Texas Tech, Lubbock, Texas.

McPherson, who is also the leader in the event in the National Junior College Athletics Association (NJCAA), broke the previous school record of 45.06 seconds set last year by Donald Chiyangwa.

He beat his previous best of 45.30 seconds set at the Texas Tech Masked Rider on April 3.

His run makes him the fastest Jamaican so far and places him in the Jamaican all-time top 20 and is 14th in the world so far.

Also at the Corky/Crofoot Shootout, Antonio Forbes and Shevon Depass of Western Texas College improved their 400m hurdles times, while finishing second and third respectively.

Forbes, formerly of Kingston College, ran a college best 50.40 seconds to take over the lead in the NJCAA rankings, while Depass, formerly of William Knibb Memorial, ran a personal best 51.04 seconds for third in the race, third overall in the NJCAA.