Ackeem Blake dips below 10 seconds in personal best
Jamaican Ackeem Blake ran a personal best 9.92 seconds (1.4m/s) to win the men’s 100m at the Music City Track Carnival, presented by Puma, at Vanderbilt University track facilities in Nashville, Tennessee, on Sunday as four Jamaicans won their respective events.
Kimberly Williamson cleared a personal best 1.93m to win the women’s high jump, former national quarter-miler Chrisann Gordon-Powell won the women’s 800m in personal best 1:59.52 minutes and national champion and Sean Bailey won the men’s 400m with a season’s best 45.18 seconds.
Williamson, Gordon-Powell and shot putter Lloydrica Cameron all boosted their chances of making it to the World Athletics Championships later this year, moving up in the world rankings.
Blake, the 20 year old former Merlene Ottey High runner who is part of the Michael Frater Titans Track Club, became the third Jamaican man to run under 10.00 seconds for the first time this year, joining Oblique Seville- 9.86 and Davonte Burnett 9.99 seconds.
He had equalled his previous personal best of 10.08 seconds set earlier this year, in the preliminaries before becoming the 22nd Jamaican man to go under 10.00 seconds in the 100m and is the second fastest behind Seville so far this year.
Cejhae Greene of Antigua was second with a season’s best 10.02 seconds and Kendal Williams of the USA was third with 10.05 seconds as another Jamaican Jelani Walker was fifth in the final with a personal best 10.15 seconds after running 10.22 seconds in the preliminaries.
The 28 year-old Williamson beat her previous best of 1.91m set in 2017 to take the high jump title and is tied for ninth best in the world so far and strengthened her quest for a place in the World Champs, as part of the world ranking quota.
The former Edwin Allen High and Kansas State athlete who still holds the national junior record at 1.88m, is hoping to be the second Jamaican woman in the high jump at the World Championships along with world leader and national record holder Lamara Distin.
Americans Rachel McCoy was second with 1.90m and Jelena Rowe was third with 1.85m, both season’s best marks.
Gordon-Powell just missed the automatic qualifying mark for the World Championships (1:59.20 seconds) by a scant two hundredth of a second automatic qualifying mark for the World Championships after running the 13th best time in the event in the world so far, in her first season competing in the event at the professional level.
The former Holmwood Technical and University of Texas runner lowered her life time best from 2:01.47 seconds that she ran at a meet at Louisiana State University on April 23rd.
American Olivia Baker was second with a life time best 1:59.80 seconds and Sadi Henderson third with 2:00.64 seconds.
Bailey beat compatriot Nathon Allen in the 400m, running a season’s best 45.18 seconds, Allen clocked 45.21 seconds, also his best of the season with American Bryce Deadmon third with 45.23 seconds.
Former Vere Technical and St Jago runner Andrenette Knight was second in the women’s 400m hurdles with a personal best 53.39 seconds, best by a Jamaican so far this year and a full second better than her previous best of 54.39 sect at Mt SAC in mid-April.
American Sydney McLaughlin who was racing for the first time since the Olympic Games last year, won with a world leading 51.61 seconds, Panama’s Gianna Woodruff was third with 54.63 second while Jamaica’s Kimisha Chambers was sixth in 56.28 seconds.
Cameron, who competed at the Olympics last year, was second in the women’s shot put with a season’s best 18.01m, beaten by American Jessica Ramsey-18.26m with another American Hayley Teel third with 17.31m.
Former Hydel High stand out Ashanti Moore ran 11.48 seconds (-0.7m/s) in the first round of the women’s 100m and failed to advance and was fifth in the 200m in 23.60 seconds (0.5m/s) while Jazmine Fray was sixth in the women’s 800m B race in 2:02.66 seconds.
On Friday, Nayoka Clunis won the women’s development hammer throw with 65.87m, with a second Jamaican, Erica Belvit, fourth with 63.70m.
— Paul Reid