TIA-ADANA BELLE has joined the list of track and field record breakers, with a personal best 57.58 seconds in the 400M hurdles at the NCAA Division 2 Track and Field Championships in Allendale, Michigan.
Yesterday, Belle, a freshman at St Augustine’s College, finished second overall at the National Championships. Pending ratification, that time will replace the 57.87 junior national record set by Latoya Griffith in 2009.
It was the third junior national record to fall in as many days. Akela Jones also broke the junior and senior national record with 6.55 metres in the long jump at the NAIA Championships, and clocked 13.35 to set the new standard for the 100m hurdles.
Belle was the only freshman in the race and went into the final with the fastest qualifying time of 58.93. She was beaten by senior Samantha Elliott of Johnson C. Smith (57.12), while sophomore Nikki Douglas of Central Missouri was third in 59.33.
With that performance, the 2013 World Youth silver medallist has qualified for the Central American and Caribbean Juniors, World Juniors and the Youth Olympics.
The women finished tenth overall, but schoolmate and fellow Barbadian Burkheart Ellis Jr played a major role in helping the men capture back-to-back titles.
Ellis Jr was third in the men’s 400m in 46.06 seconds, a qualifying mark for the North America, Central America and Caribbean Under-23 Championships and the CAC Games.
Jordan Edwards won in 45.99 and Joshua Edmonds was second in 46.03.
Ellis ran the third leg on both the 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams which won gold, and was fifth in the 200m in 21.06.
Rimar Christie of Northwest Nazarene clocked 10.46 seconds in the preliminaries of the 100 metres and did not advance. (SAT)
