It was a golden weekend for T&T athletes running on the American circuit with Commonwealth Games champions Michelle-Lee Ahye and Jereem Richards, as well as Machel Cedenio and Portius Warren leading the way.
On Saturday at the Texas A&M Alumni Muster meet at E.B. Cushing Stadium, Ahye, the reigning women's 100m Commonwealth Games champion outclassed a field of 34 athletes to finish the fastest among the Women’s 100m pack.
Running for Adidas, she clocked a time of 11.11 seconds to easily win gold ahead of Texas A&M’s Brenessa Thompson (11.22), and Nike’s Morolake Akinosun who got bronze in a time of 11.26 seconds, while T&T’s Reyare Thomas also ran in the same event, and finished 15th in a time of 11.71 seconds.
Thomas and T&T’s Texas A&M sophomore athlete, Tyra Gittens, also ran in the women’s 200m event.
In a field of 25 sprinters, Gittens finished 12th in a time of 24.13 seconds running for her college, one better than Thomas, who finished 13th with a time of 24.23 seconds.
Among the college runners, Gittens placed fourth in the women’s 100m Hurdles.
Across in Louisiana, Commonwealth 200m champion and World bronze winner, Richards and Akanni Hislop were also in sublime form at the Louisiana State University Invitational.
The Pt Fortin-born Richards won in a time of 20.43 seconds, running for Adidas in the men’s 200m event while Hislop was also part of a winning quartet for LSU, with his team winning the men’s 4x100m relay event in a time of 39.04 seconds.
In the men’s 100m sprint, Hislop also won bronze in a time of 10.19 seconds.
T&T's Machel Cedenio, the fourth-place finisher at the 2016 Olympics ran his fastest race in two years when he won the men’s 400m in 45.05, his fastest time since June 2017 on Saturday at the Tom Jones Memorial in Gainesville on Saturday.
In the field, shot putter Portious Warren threw herself to the NCAA lead with a new personal record and Alabama Track & Field and Cross Country school record with an 18.61m effort on her third throw. She got over the 18m mark three times at the meet, recording 18.41m on her second and fourth throws. USA’s Jeneva Stevens took second in the shot, with 18.44m.
At the same meet, Mauricia Prieto competed in the Women’s 4x100m relay for Alabama ‘A’ placing third with her team in a time of 43.93 seconds. She also finished fourth in the Women’s 100m dash in a time of 11.31 seconds.