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Gittens exits early in NCAA high jump
FINISHED NINTH: T&T athlete Tyra Gittens

Gittens exits early in NCAA high jump

Go Back : Express : Kwame Laurence : 12.06.2022

Tyra Gittens made a surprise exit from the women's high jump at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon, USA, yesterday (Saturday).

Gittens cleared 1.80 metres on her first attempt, but bowed out at the next height, 1.83. After knocking down the bar for the third time, the University of Texas senior held her head in disbelief.

With a personal best of 1.95m, Gittens was expected to challenge for the title. But it was not to be, 1.83m proving to be too high on the day. The Trinidad and Tobago athlete's 1.80m clearance earned her ninth spot. On Thursday, Gittens bagged bronze in the long jump with a wind-aided 6.57m leap.

T&T sprinter Leah Bertrand helped Ohio State University to sixth spot in the women's 4x100 metres final. The Ohio State quartet clocked 43.52 seconds. University of Texas struck gold in 42.42.

Safiya John was in the form of her life on Friday, producing personal best performances in the first four women's heptathlon disciplines.

John opened with a 13.60 seconds clocking in the 100m hurdles. The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff junior followed up with a 1.75m clearance in the high jump, equalling her personal best. She then threw 12.22 metres in the shot put, before closing off day one of the hep with a 25.15 run in the 200m.

John was back in action yesterday, starting her day two campaign in seventh spot with 3,501 points to her name. She added 840 more, thanks to a 5.97m leap in the long jump. John's 32.39m throw in the javelin earned her 522 points for a six-discipline total of 4,863. After press time, yesterday evening, the T&T athlete ran in the 800m to complete the hep.

T&T sprinter Eric Harrison finished ninth in Friday's men's 200m final in 20.71 seconds. Second fastest overall in the semis in a personal best 20.18, Harrison went into the championship race as a podium contender. The Ohio State University senior, however, was more than a half-second slower in the final, and had to settle for the cellar position.

Liberia's Joseph Fahnbulleh outclassed the half-lap field, winning in a personal best 19.83 seconds to complete the men's sprint double. Earlier, the University of Florida sophomore claimed the 100m title in 10 seconds flat - also a personal best. Fahnbulleh's championship race clockings were Liberia national records.

T&T quartermiler Dwight St Hillaire was part of the University of Kentucky team that finished sixth in the men's 4x400m final in three minutes, 02.98 seconds. Florida won in a championship record 2:58.88.

Florida emerged as men's team champions with 54 points. T&T sprinter Daniel Duncan's Princeton University accumulated 27 to finish seventh. Kentucky scored nine points for 36th spot, while Ohio State earned six to finish 46th.