Former Petersfield High School thrower Daniel Cope took second in the men's weight throw with a new personal best and Cloud County Community College record 20.01 metres on yesterday's opening day of the National Junior College Athletics Association (NJCAA) indoors track and field Championships at the Robert W Plaster Center in Pittsburg, Kansas.

Cope, who won the Region VI title two weeks ago at the same venue, improved on his previous best of 19.35m set two weeks ago as he also improved on his fourth place at last year's national.

After starting with two fouls, the former Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association Champs Class Two discus winner stayed in the competition with a 'safe throw' of 16.39m before he jumped into second place with a throw of 18.18m.

He then followed up with his two biggest throws ever — 19.61m in the fifth round then got over the 20.00m in the final round as defending champion Andrei Romanov of New Mexico Junior College retained his title with 21.26m, and Barton County's Fabio Hessling repeated his bronze-medal performance from last year with 17.85m.

Meanwhile, former Buff Bay High School high jump star Romaine Beckford led the men's heptathlon with 2,896 points after four of the seven events were completed in the first session, while former Calabar High School athlete Andrew Betton, the Region VI champion and national leader, was in sixth position with 2,612 points.

Beckford, who is attending South Plains Community College and is also favoured to win the high jump, has a personal best 4,686 points set last year at the NJCAA Region V multis championships.

Former Calabar High School athlete Renaldo Savoury placed 10th in the pole vault with 4.20m as former Holmwood Technical athlete Maricia Spence of Western Texas College was fourth in the Pentathlon with 3,067 points.

Meanwhile, at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) national indoors championships at the Ruth Donohoe First Dakota Fieldhouse, a number of Jamaicans had good finishes in their respective finals.

Former Wolmer's Girls' sprinter Jada McBean of Xavier-Louisiana was fifth in the 60m final in 7.58 seconds, just beating former Mt Alvernia High runner Soyinne Greynion of Indiana Tech, who ran 7.60 seconds, both new personal best times.

Greynion was also sixth in the 200m final in another lifetime best 24.92 seconds, again just edged by another Jamaican, former Manchester High runner Argyanna Bolton of Wayland Baptist, who ran 24.91 seconds.

Greynion's teammate Xuxa Peart, who is formerly of Holmwood Technical, was fifth in the women's 400m in a new personal best 56.60 seconds.

The men's finals in the NAIA championships will be run today.

— Paul Reid