T&T’s Machel Cedenio had a good finish to place second in the men's 400 metres at the Racers Grand Prix on Saturday night at the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica.
Olympic finalist Cedenio, competing from lane eight, came through strong for second in 44.92 behind Fred Kerley, who ensured there was no repeat of last year’s drama when he was caught on the finish line. The Diamond League winner simply separated himself from the field around the top bend and moved further away in the home straight to win in a season’s best of 44.49.
In the women's 100m, Michelle-Lee Ahye clocked 11.20 to place third. The T&T sprinter crossed the same time as eventual second-place finisher Jamaican Jonielle Smith (11.20) as they both followed twice Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce to the line in a world-leading 10.88.
In Montverde, Florida in the United States, 2003 World 400m hurdles champions Jehue Gordon placed third in the final of the event at the Star Athletics Sprint Series. The local hurdler crossed in 50.44 to bag the bronze.
<Gittens gets NCAA silver>
On the collegiate circuit, T&T's Tyra Gittens of Texas A&M University won the silver medal in the heptathlon at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Mike A. Myers Track and Soccer Stadium in Austin, Texas.
Gittens completed the heptathlon with 6,049 points, finishing 173 points behind gold medallists Ashtin Zamzow of Texas (6,222). It marks the highest finish by an Aggie in the NCAA heptathlon, bettering the fourth place by Daphne Fitzpatrick in 2011. The score by Gittens is the No 2 performance on the A&M all-time list.
Over on the track, local runner Mauricia Prieto and her the University of Alabama team closed out the night with the 4x400m relay, taking fifth place after overcoming a near NASCAR-esque pile up on the backstretch of the race's third leg that caused junior Prieto to come to a near stop, swerving to avoid a stumbling runner just in front of her.
Juniors Takyera Roberson, Katie Funcheon, Prieto and Natassha McDonald overcame the near disaster to post a time 3:27.12, clinching the Tide's spot in the top 10. The Alabama women earned its first top-10 finish at the Outdoor Championships since 1993, taking seventh with 29 points.