Lavanya Williams ran a big personal best 10.90 seconds (0.7m/s) to win the women’s 100m at the 6th staging of the Felix Sanchez Classic, a World Athletics Continental tour silver event, held at the Felix Sanchez stadium in the Dominican Republic on Saturday.

Williams, who beat fellow Jamaican Ashanti Moore who ran a season’s best 10.97 seconds for second, beat her previous best of 10.95 seconds set at May’s Morocco Diamond League and is tied for 13th fastest in the world so far this season.

Her time makes her the 15th fastest Jamaican woman of all time and means she has lowered her lifetime best 10 times this season after she started the season with a PB of 11.45 seconds.

Liranyi Alonso of the Dominican Republic was third in 11.05 seconds, just shy of her national record 11.04 seconds.

Meanwhile, four other Jamaicans placed second in their respective events, including Kadrian Goldson in the men’s 100m, Christopher Taylor in the men’s 200m and Amoi Brown in the 100m hurdles.

Goldson ran a wind-aided 9.90 seconds (2.4m/s) to take second in the men’s 100m, after running 10.00 seconds (1.4m/s) in the prelims, beaten by PanAmerican Games and Central American and Caribbean Games champion Ronal Longa of Colombia who ran 9.84 seconds with Abdul-Rasheed Saminu of Ghana third with 9.94 seconds.

Travis Williams, the second Jamaican to qualify for the final, was fifth in 10.00 seconds.

Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Taylor ran 20.33 seconds (2.0m/s) for second behind American Kyree King- 20.28 seconds, with Yancarlos Martinez of the Dominican Republic third with 20.38 seconds.
Brown ran a season’s best 12.73 seconds (1.4m/s) for the runner-up spot in the 100m hurdles that was won by American Amber Hughes with 12.52 seconds. Nigeria’s Adaobi Tabugbo was third in 13.05 seconds.

Tyler Mason, who ran a wind-aided 13.37 seconds (2.4m/s) in the preliminaries of the 110m hurdles, did not finish his race in the final.

Commonwealth Games gold medallist Sanique Walker was second in the women’s 400m hurdles in 54.45 seconds, finishing behind Zimbabwe’s Ashley Tinashe-Miller who ran a meet record 54.19 seconds, beating the 55.60 seconds set by American Cassandra Tate in 2024. Dinedye Denis of the Ivory Coast was third in 54.78 seconds.

Lloydricia Cameron was third in the women’s shot put with 17.50m as Rosa Angelica Ramirez of the Dominican Republic threw 18.39m to break the Jamaican’s meet record 17.59m set last year. Belsy Jennifer Quinonez, who set the Ecuadorian national record 17.90m at the recent World Athletics Under 20 Championships in Eugene, was third with 17.83m.

Malik James King finished fifth in the men’s 400m hurdles with 50.60 seconds.
-Paul A Reid