media_artricles :: 2018

Ahye bags another bronze

National and Commonwealth Games sprint champion Michelle-Lee Ahye bagged another bronze in the women's 100 metres at the Bauhaus-galan, the IAAF Diamond League athletics meet at Stockholm Olympic Stadium in Sweden, yesterday.

Ahye renewed her rivalry with Ivory Coast's Murielle Ahoure and Dina Asher-Smith of Great Britain and again followed the duo to the line in 11.11 seconds as she did at Thursday's fifth stop of the Diamond League in Norway.

Then Ahoure won in 10.91 with Asher-Smith, who broke her national record with a time of 10.92, in second and Ahye was third in a season's best 11.06.

This time around, Asher-Smith reversed placings with Ahoure and won in 10.93. Ahoure had to settle for the runner-up spot in 11.03. T&T's Khalifa St Fort also raced in the dash and clocked a slower time of 11.35 to place seventh, compared to Thursday's race when she crossed in 11.28 and finished last.

On Saturday at the JN Racers Grand Prix at the National Stadium in Jamaica, no T&T athlete finished among the top three finishers in their respective events.

T&T's Kelly-Ann Baptiste came closest though, just missing out on a medal in placing fourth in the women's 100m dash in a time of 11.27. Winning was Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in 11.10, American Jenna Prandina (11.14) was second and third was Ato Boldon-coached Briana Williams, also of Jamaica, in 11.26.

Renny Quow faced a tough field in the men's 400m and placed eighth in 46.86. Winning was Grenadian Kirani James, the 2012 Olympic champion and the 2016 silver medallist, had a late burst to edge American Fred Kerley (44.36) at the line.

Sparkle McKnight crossed sixth in the women's 400m hurdles with a 56.48-clocking. In the women's 800m, local middle-distance runner Alena Brooks was seventh in 2:02.56, sprinter Emmanuel Callender finished seventh in the men's 100m B race in 10.43 and Cleopatra Borel was sixth with a 17.39m-effort. On Thursday, 2012 Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott opened his season with victory at a Finland meet.

He won gold in the men's javelin with a 78.58m-effort. Over the weekend, a number of local athletes competed at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

University of Kentucky senior Kayelle Clarke just missed out on medals in both her relay events. The senior ran the third leg in her UK team's fourth-place finish in the women's 4x100m in 43.49 and later ran the anchor leg in the 4x400m to help UK place fourth in 3:30.52.

Zakiya Denoon also raced in the 4x400m relay final, running the third leg to help her Louisiana State University team to sixth place, clocking 3:32.08.

University of Alabama's (UA) junior Portious Warren was also in action in the discus and she finished in 19th spot with her best throw, measuring 45.08 on the final day of the four-day meet.

Texas A&M freshman Tyra Gittens placed eighth in the women's heptathlon with a score of 5,748 points the second best tally in her career. Heading into the final discipline, the 800m, Gittens had tallied 5,054 points after six events in the seven-discipline event. She did not do as well as she had hoped, placing 20th and last in 2:29.95 to earn a mere 694 points.

On Thursday, Warren and Gittens, had top-ten finishes in their respective field events. Warren achieved Alabama's first top-10 finish in the shot put in 26 years. Warren finished ninth with an effort of 16.92m, the sixth-best mark in the school's history. Gittens also placed ninth in the women's long jump with her best leap measuring 6.38m.

Clarke raced in the women's 200m and placed eighth in 23.56 in the third semifinal heat. The senior's time placed her 23rd overall. On Friday, UA's Ruebin Walters placed sixth (13.95) in the men's 100m hurdles final while in the 400m hurdles medal race, Infinite Tucker of Texas A&M placed eighth in 50.76.

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