Monday, 19 May 2008 Thompson 9.93sec 100m in Auburn; world leads for Jonas (HJ 2.36m) & Lucas (200m, 22.29sec) in Boulder
Richard Thompson (TRI) taking the NCAA indoor 60m title (Kirby Lee)
In just his second 100m race of the season, Richard Thompson joined the sub-10-second club in sterling fashion at the Southeast Conference Championships in Auburn, Alabama on Sunday (18).
The 22-year-old native of Cascade, Trinidad & Tobago, dominated the field with a sizzling 9.93 dash, narrowly missing Ato Boldon’s 9.92 NCAA record set in 1996. In his last solo outing over the distance, he set a Texas Relays record of 10.00 in early April.
Trindon Holliday, Thompson’s teammate at Louisiana State University, was second in 10.05. But Thompson wasn’t finished. An hour later he came back to win the 200m as well in 20.23, a huge personal best.
Just a 10.27 performer two years ago, Thompson was fifth in the 100m at the NCAA Championships a year ago but reached his season’s peak a few weeks later at the Trinidad & Tobago national championships where, propelled by a hefty 3.0 m/s wind, he finished second to Darrel Brown in 9.95. In Port-of-Spain he did manage to lower his wind-legal career best to 10.09 in the semis before his collegiate schedule finally caught up with him. After winning the low-key NACAC title in San Salvador, El Salvador, in July (10.33), he didn’t advance from the heats at the Pan-American Games in Rio de Janeiro, and didn’t move beyond the quarter-finals at the World Championships in Osaka.
Over the winter, he gradually staked the claim as the leading collegiate sprinter. Beginning the indoor season with a 6.64 career best, he went on to win each of his five 60m outings, including the NCAA indoor crown in 6.51, the second fastest performance in the world.
Traditionally one of the strongest collegiate conferences, several other notable performances emerged. Kelly Ann Baptiste, also from Trinidad and LSU, won the women’s 100m in 11.09, and finished second in the 200 (22.87) behind Natalie Knight (22.84). In the sprint hurdles contests, Jason Richardson won the men’s 110m Hurdles in 13.21 and Nickiesha Wilson won the women’s 100m Hurdles in 12.81; both were pushed by +2.4 m/s winds.
Jonas improves to 2.36 in Boulder, 22.29 world leader for Lucas
Solid sprinting also dominated the final day of the Big-12 Conference Championships at an altitude of 1630m in Boulder, Colorado, but it was a world-leading 2.36m leap in the High Jump by Dusty Jonas that stole the show. The 22-year-old student at the University of Nebraska had a clean slate through 2.33m, a career best, before improving even further with a second attempt success at 2.36m.
Simone Facey, a former World junior 200m medallist from Jamaica, won the women’s 100m in 10.95 (+1.8), her first visit to sub-11 territory. Her 22.45 in the 200m was also a personal best, but this year she finished a distant second to 19-year-old Porscha Lucas who dashed 22.29, the fastest in the world this year.
Both Facey and Lucas are at Texas A&M, as is 19-year-old Zambian standout Gerald Phiri who took an impressive men’s sprint double. He won the 100m in a wind-aided 10.02 (+2.2) and doubled back to take the half lap in 20.29, knocking a huge chunk from his previous national record of 20.62 set on 3 May.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
