Trinidad and Tobago's Tyriq Horsford produced the second best throw of his career at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon, USA, on Wednesday night. The 75.95 metres effort, however, could not get Horsford onto the podium , the Mississippi State University student finishing fourth in the men's javelin.
Horsford produced the big throw in round two to move into second spot. Up to the fourth round, he was still in silver position, but slipped to bronze after Auburn University's American thrower Cade Antonucci landed the spear 76.14m.
In the sixth and final round, Horsford dropped to fourth courtesy of American Tzuriel Pedigo's 76.98m golden throw, the Louisiana State University (LSU) student jumping from seventh to first. Horsford's Mississippi State teammate, DJ Jonsson earned silver, the Icelander producing a 76.73m effort. Bronze, meanwhile, went to Antonucci.
At the 2019 NCAA Championships, Horsford bagged bronze, and seemed on course to repeat that podium achievement on Wednesday. The 21-year-old just missed out, but had the satisfaction of a solid series, including three 75-plus throwsÑ75.95, 75.11 and 75.80. Horsford's personal best is 78.78m.
T&T quartermiler Dwight St Hillaire has been drawn in lane four for tonight's NCAA Championship men's 400m final. On Wednesday, St Hillaire finished second in heat three in 45.68 seconds. Running in lane two, the University of Kentucky student was off the pace heading into the home straight, but finished strong to secure a top-two spot and automatic qualification for the championship race.
St Hillaire will also be on show in the 4x400m final. He produced a 45.36 seconds third leg split in heat two to help Kentucky to second spot in three minutes, 04.42 seconds. In the same race, another T&T athlete, Joshua Jacob St Clair ran the second leg for seventh-placed University of Alabama. The Alabama quartet clocked 3:12.55 for 20th spot overall. Nine teams advanced.
In the opening men's 4x100m qualifying heat, T&T sprinter Akanni Hislop performed third leg duties for the victorious LSU team. LSU clocked 38.66 seconds to lead all qualifiers into the final. In heat two, St Hillaire and Ohio State University's Eric Harrison battled on the second leg. Ohio State finished fourth in the race in 39.32, while Kentucky had to settle for sixth in 39.56. Both teams were eliminated.
Harrison also bowed out in the 200m. The T&T sprinter was seventh in heat one and 19th overall in 20.86 seconds.
After press time, last night, Texas A&M University student Tyra Gittens competed in the women's long jump. University of South Florida (USF) sprinter Kadesha Prescott was expected to be on show in the women's 4x100m relay. Gittens will be back in action today in the heptathlon.
At the Golden Gala Wanda Diamond League meet in Florence, Italy, yesterday, T&T track star Machel Cedenio was a non-finisher in the men's 400m. Colombia's Anthony Zambrano topped the field in 44.76 seconds, finishing well ahead of Italy's Davide Re, the runner-up in 45.80.
