Bahamian Latario Collie won the men's triple jump title at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships this past weekend in Eugene, Oregon. He finished with the best leap of 16.97, (55'8-1/4")
A number of Bahamian track and field athletes figured prominently at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships this past weekend in Eugene, Oregon, USA.
The top performance from a local athlete was delivered by Texas A&M Aggies triple jumper Latario Collie. He won the NCAA title with a best leap of 16.97 meters (m) (55' 8-1/4"). Keandre Bates from Florida was second with his jump of 16.73m (54' 10-3/4") and Matthew Oneal from South Florida was third with a leap of 16.59m (54' 5-1/4").
Other Bahamians in the event were Collie's twin brother and fellow Aggies triple jumper, Lathone, and Kaiwan Culmer of Nebraska.
Lathone Collie finished seventh with a leap of 16.02m (52' 6-3/4"), and Culmer was eighth with a leap of 15.93m (52' 3-1/4").
University of Southern California (USC) standout Tynia Gaither barely missed winning a medal in the women's 100m. She finished fourth in a wind-aided 11.08 seconds. Ariana Washington from Oregon won the race in 10.95 seconds, followed by Ashley Henderson from San Diego State in 10.96 seconds and Morolake Akinosun from Texas in 11.07 seconds.
Gaither was fifth in the 200m in a personal best run of 22.54 seconds and was a part of the 4x100 team that finished second in 42.90 seconds. The redshirt senior ended her collegiate career with a silver, and three All-American awards in her final year of eligibility.
After setting a new women's 100m hurdles national record in the semi-finals, Illinois junior Pedrya Seymour had a disappointing final on Saturday. In the race, Seymour clipped the first hurdle, tumbled over the second and was unable to finish the race. Her finals appearance still earned her first All-American honors. Seymour went into the final with the third-fastest time in the semi-finals. In Thursday's semis, Seymour clocked a blazing 12.86 seconds.
Kentucky's Jasmine Camacho-Quinn won the 100m hurdles title in 12.54 seconds.
Penn State jumper Dannielle Gibson made her debut at the championships.
On her first jump of the competition, Gibson recorded a mark of 11.93m (39' 1-3/4"), but quickly followed with a jump of 13.05m (42' 9-3/4") on her second attempt. The Penn State junior finished 11th overall, ending her season as a second team All-American.
Carmiesha Cox and the Purdue women's 4x400m relay team came up just short of qualifying for Saturday's final. They finished ninth overall in 3:32.80, just missing out on the final. In the 4x100m, they ran 43.99 seconds to finish 11th overall. Only the top eight teams qualified for the final. It was the first time in the history of the NCAA Championships that a sub-44 team did not reach the final.
Individually Cox missed out on the 200m final, finishing 17th overall in 23.58 seconds.
In high school action, Jyles Etienne added to what is already one of the greatest individual careers in Stony Brook Athletics history. The high school junior claimed the New York State Division II title with a leap of 2.09m (6' 10-1/4") in the high jump event. He also became just the second athlete from the school to win a state title.
Randy Smith, Guardian Sports Reporter
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