Kaliese Spencer ran a world-leading time of 53.41 to win the women's 400 meter hurdles title on the second day of the Jamaican Track and Field Championships.
On a day when sprint star Veronica Campbell-Brown made a winning return to the Jamaican track scene after being away for more than a year, the hurdlers provided plenty of excitement as Roxroy Cato ran the second fastest time in the world (48.48 seconds) to win the men’s 400 metre hurdle race.
The Jamaica nationals are doubling this year as a qualifying event for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games which begins next month.
Spencer, the three time Diamond League trophy winner who now has the top three times in the world, continued her brilliant season as she dominated the field at National Stadium.
"This is the fastest I have ever run here in Jamaica so I am happy for that," she said.
Janieve Russell, the 2012 world junior champion, was second in 54.75 seconds, and Nikita Tracey took third to book their tickets to the Commonwealth Games.
Cato posted a personal best performance and said he was confident he could win at the Commonwealth Games.
"Why not? I am running fast and I still have some more time to train and can run faster," he said after winning his first national title.
Annsert Whyte, who came into the finals as the favorite, was second in 48.58 seconds while former four time champion Leford Green was third.
Campbell-Brown won the women's 100 meter title, clocking a time of 10.96 seconds to beat Olympic silver medalist Kerron Stewart who finished in 11.02 seconds. Schillonie Calvert finished third in 11.16.
"I am happy with the victory but I know I still have a lot of work to do," Campbell-Brown said.
Campbell-Brown was running in Jamaica for the first time since she failed a drug test in May 2013, which caused her to miss last year's World Championships in Moscow.
Nickel Ashmeade beat a depleted field to win the men's 100 meter race which was missing several of the country's top sprinters, including Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake. Ashmeade finished in 10.06 seconds.
Ashmeade defeated Jason Livermore (10.11) and Kemar Bailey-Cole (10.16).
Damon McLean won the men's triple jump with a leap of 16.15 meters. British-based Daniel Lewis was second (16.04m) and Wayne Northover was third (15.83m).
Newly-crowned national record holder Kellion Knibb won the women’s discus throw with a 58.88 meter toss while Jovanee Jarrett claimed the women’s long jump title with a jump of 6.38 meters.
Source: AFP