Home|Sports|Jones, McCoy win conference titles; other Bahamians win medalsSports
Simba FrenchSend an emailFebruary 27, 2023 236 3 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email
Bahamian collegiate sprinter Terrence Jones ran for the first time this year on Friday, and did it in grand fashion, clocking a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I (DI) leading time of 6.46 seconds in the men’s 60 meters (m) dash. The Texas Tech Red Raiders junior returned on Saturday and won that event in a time 6.48 seconds.
Jones accomplished the feat at the Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Sports Performance Center in Lubbock, Texas, claiming the conference title. The Red Raiders captured their third title, scoring 159 points – the second most in program history.
The time on Friday placed Jones four-hundredths of a second behind world leader Trayvon Bromell of the United States. It was also a meet record. The Bahamian wasted no time in letting the world know his intentions as he took to Twitter on Saturday.
“I coming for that world lead Mr. Bromell,” Jones tweeted.
The 20-year-old sprinter was one of six finalists for Texas Tech in the men’s 60m dash. Led by Jones, they claimed the top four spots. Don’dre Swint and Caleb Dean finished second and third in times of 6.57 and 6.58 seconds, respectively.
The Grand Bahama athlete was not the only Bahamian in action for the Red Raiders over the weekend. The reigning world junior champion in the 110m hurdles Antoine Andrews competed in the 60m hurdles.
The freshman ran 7.59 seconds in the final to finish with the silver medal. He lost to his teammate Dean who turned on the jets and finished in a new school record of 7.52 seconds. Placing third was the Red Raiders’ Denim Rogers who clocked 7.77 seconds.
Andrews clocked 7.75 seconds in the prelims.
Wanya McCoy was in action at the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Norton Healthcare Sports and Learning Center in Louisville, Kentucky, competing for Clemson University Tigers.
The freshman ran in the men’s 400m final on Saturday, finishing in 45.91 seconds for a new facility record in winning the conference title. Finishing second was Florida State’s DaeQwan Bulter with a season’s best of 46.45 seconds. Virginia Tech’s Kennedy Harrison ran 46.48 seconds to place third.
McCoy ran 46.60 seconds in the preliminaries on Friday. His school finished third in the men’s team category with 74.5 points.
Two Bahamians were also in action at the 2023 Southeastern Conference (SEC) Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Tyson Indoor Track Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The University of Kentucky Wildcats’ Anthaya Charlton is having a great season in the long jump pit leaping her way to several personal best performances. This meet was no exception as she won the bronze medal in that event with a personal best jump of 6.53m (21’ 5-1/4”). The winning jump came on her second attempt. The mark moves her up to the sixth in the NCAA DI rankings. Winning the event on Friday was the University of Florida Gators’ Jasmine Moore who posted a meet record and NCAA DI leading mark of 6.91m (22’ 8”). Moore’s teammate Claire Bryant was second, recording a mark of 6.57m (21’ 6-3/4”). Finishing just behind Charlton was Bahamian and University of Tennessee Vols’ Charisma Taylor. She posted a jump of 6.36m (20’ 10-1/2”) for the fourth-place finish.
Taylor was able to win a silver medal in the triple jump and a bronze medal in the 60m hurdles. The Bahamian only jumped twice, with her silver medal-winning mark coming from her first jump that measured 13.82m (45’ 4-1/4”). Moore won, recording a jump of 14.09m (46” 2-3/4”). The University of Georgia Bulldogs’ Mikeisha Welcome was third, posting a personal best of 13.74m (45” 1”).
In the hurdles, Taylor clocked 8.03 seconds to hold off Louisiana State University (LSU) Tigers’ Leah Phillips for the bronze medal. Phillips ran 8.50 seconds. The Wildcats’ Masai Russell won that event with a time of 7.90 seconds. Close behind her in second was the University of Arkansas Razorbacks’ Ackera Nugent who recorded a time of 7.91 seconds.
The Vols finished third in the women’s category with 56.33 points while the Wildcats were seventh with 51.33 seconds. Bahamian Rolando “Lonnie” Greene is the head coach for the Wildcats and one of The Bahamas’ Golden Girls Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie is an assistant coach under Greene.
Shaun Miller Jr. was in action for the Ohio State University (OSU) Buckeyes in the Big Ten Indoor Championships at the SPIRE Indoor Track and Field Facility in Geneva, Ohio. The junior settled for the silver medal in the men’s high jump, clearing 2.21m (7’ 3”). Wining that event was Nebraska’s Mayson Conner, who cleared the same height as Miller, but prevailed on a countback. Securing third place was Conner’s teammate Tyus Wilson who cleared 2.15m (7’ 0-1/2”).
There were two Bahamians in action in the 60m dash – the Buckeyes Adrian Curry and the Purdue University Boilermakers’ Zachary Evans. In the preliminaries, Evans stopped the clock at 6.74 seconds, which was the third-fastest time going into the final. Curry was unable to advance after posting a time of 6.88 seconds in the prelims. Evans had a false start in the final and was disqualified.
Next up for the athletes is the NCAA DI Indoor Championships, set for March 10-11, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.