Three Jamaican winners at NCAA Champs
KINGSTON, Jamaica – Jaydon Hibbert of the University of Arkansas completed a perfect first season of NCAA men’s triple jump after he won the Division 1 outdoors title on Friday at the Mike A Myers stadium in Austin, Texas with 17.56m (-0.3m/s).
Hibbert’s winning mark came in the first round as he was added to the NCAA indoors as well as the Southeastern Conference indoors and outdoors titles he won earlier in the season.
Owayne Owens of the University of Virginia was sixth with 16.36m (1.1m/s) and Malik Cunningham of Villanova was seventh in a personal best 16.17m.
There were three Jamaican winners on the night as Phillip Lemonious of Arkansas won the 100m hurdles title and Romaine Beckford of the University of South Florida won the high jump.
Lemonious ran a lifetime best 13.24 seconds (1.8m/s) to end his college career on a high as Giano Roberts of Clemson was fifth in 13.31 seconds.
Beckford, who had won the indoor title, cleared a personal best and school record 2.27m, the second best ever by a Jamaican man to win a very competitive event.
– Paul A Reid