media_artricles :: 2015

Baptiste makes winning return

Embattled sprinter Kelly-Ann Baptiste made a winning return to competition by speeding to victory in the women’s indoor 60m finals at the LSU High Performance Meet in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA, on Saturday.

The 2011 World Championships 100m bronze medallist got to the line in 7.28 seconds. Baptiste finished well ahead of Americans Kiersten Duncan (LSU) 7.59 and Da Quanya Bryd-West (Memphis) 7.70.

In the preliminaries, Baptiste was even quicker, topping the field in 7.24 seconds. The national 100m record holder is competing in her first meet in almost two years since her participation at the 2013 National Championships. Since then she has been embroiled in a doping controversy which led to her missing the 2013 World Championships. However, earlier this year the US-based sprinter was cleared to compete with immediate effect following an investigation by the US Anti-doping Agency (USADA).

Olympic bronze medallist Deon Lendore (Texas A&M) meanwhile notched his second victory for the season over the men’s indoor 400m, claiming the two-lap race in 45.38 seconds at the Tyson Invitational in Arkanas on Friday. Lendore won section four with his Texas A&M school-mate, Grenadian Bralon Taplin, winner of heat three, narrowly behind in 45.39. The winning time was an improvement on Lendore’s 45.68 clocking which he set one week earlier. Lendore returned to anchor his Texas A&M University team to another win in three minutes 3.47 seconds (3:03.47), fractionally slower than the team’s world leading time of 3:03.23 set on January 31. Jereem Richards and his South Plains Junior College teammates were seventh in 3:07.69.

At the same meet, Steve Waithe (Penn State) secured seventh spot in the men’s Invitational triple jump with a distance of 15.73m.

Sparkle McKnight (Arkansas) was 17th in the women’s 400m in 53.76, just ahead of Dominique Williams (South Plains) in 18th (53.86). Williams then helped South Plains to eighth in the women’s 4x400m (3:35.77). Another South Plains student Aaliyah Telesford reached the semi-finals of the women’s 60m. The 2014 TTOC Junior Sportswoman of the year was 19th in 7.50 (17th in prelims-7.51).

Telesford was also 39th in the 200m (24.23). Barbados’ reigning World Junior champion Akela Jones had an outstanding meet setting a national record in the women’s long jump with her winning effort of 6.64 metres. Bahamian Bianca Stuart was second (6.62m). Jones was also third in the women’s Invitational high jump (1.85m). Kineke Alexander (St Vincent and the Grenadines) also impressed taking the women’s Olympic Development 200m (23.24 seconds) and 400m (52.20 seconds). Jamaicans Kimberlyn Williams (women’s high jump-1.85), Christoff Byran (men’s high jump-2.28), Remona Burshell (women’s 60m-7.14) were the other Caribbean winners at the meet.

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