On the opening day of NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Regional competition, a cohort of Jamaican collegiate athletes competing across the United States turned in standout performances to punch their tickets to the national championship meet, with several clocking or throwing personal bests along the way.
At the West Regional hosted by the University of Arkansas, two shot putters put on steady displays to claim their spots in the upcoming national championships. Shaiquan Dunn, representing the University of Texas, delivered a career-best throw of 18.81 meters, which earned him a ninth-place finish and a qualification slot. Joining him in qualification was Kobe Lawrence of the University of Oregon, who secured the last available spot from the regional despite posting one of his shortest throws of the 2024 season, hitting 18.69 meters to edge out competitors.
Over at the East Regional, held at the University of Kentucky, long jumper Jordan Turner of Louisiana State University notched a third-place finish with a 7.91-meter leap into a -0.9 m/s headwind, locking in his place at the national meet. The qualification round delivered heartbreak for one athlete: Nathan Wade of the University of Louisiana-Monroe fell just four centimeters short of advancing, finishing with a best jump of 7.53 meters into a -0.8 m/s wind.
In preliminary round action at the West Regional, two Jamaican athletes took the top spots in their respective opening rounds. Kimar Farquharson of Texas A&M University led all 400-meter runners after the first round, clocking a new personal best of 45.18 seconds to advance to the second round scheduled for Friday. In the men’s 800-meter, SEC Outdoor champion Rivaldo Marshall of the University of Arkansas topped the leaderboard with a time of 1:46.92, with his Arkansas teammate Tyrice Taylor joining him in advancement after crossing the line in 1:47.80.
Three more Jamaican hurdlers moved on to the second round of the 110-meter hurdles: Demario Prince of Baylor University ran 13.38 seconds with a +1.3 m/s tailwind, while Jerome Campbell of the University of Arkansas clocked 13.55 seconds under the same wind conditions, and Daniel Beckford of Northern Colorado finished in 13.84 seconds to claim his spot. Shaemar Uter of Texas Tech also advanced out of the opening round of the men’s 200-meter, posting a time of 20.79 seconds with a +0.3 m/s tailwind.
Across at the East Regional’s preliminary rounds, Dylan Decambre of Virginia Tech set a new lifetime best of 1:46.79 seconds to secure his place in the 800-meter second round. Jasauna Dennis of the University of South Carolina shaved time off his personal best in the 400-meter to hit 45.61 seconds and advance, while Javel Fullerton of Southern Missouri University ran a season-best 50.48 seconds to move on in the men’s 400-meter hurdles.