T&T's Portious Warren was crowned the women's shot put champion of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Indoor Championships on Friday night at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The University of Alabama (UA) senior won the event with a toss that measured 17.30 metres to help her "Crimson Tide" women's team finish in third place with 67 points in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I meet. She returned the following day, to score in the weight throw placing fourth with a throw of 20.33m.
Also competing at the meet was her schoolmate Mauricia Prieto and she raced in two events. The UA junior placed 14th in the women's 200m with a time of 23.60 seconds and was part of the relay team that placed eighth in the 4x400m in 3:34.59.
Two more T&T athletes raced at the Arkansas meet but did not finish among the medallists including Louisiana State University (LSU) junior Akanni Hislop and sophomore Dwight St Hillaire of the University of Kentucky.
Hislop reached the final in two events, the men's 60m and 200m, but finished down the order in both, placing eighth in the dash in 6.77 and sixth in the half-lap in 20.88.
St Hillaire also faced the starter in the 200m but his time of 21.13 placed him 13th while in the 4x400m relay final, he and his teammates placed sixth (3:11.54).
Roberts lands high jump gold
In a very active weekend for Tennessee Tech athletes, senior Khemani Roberts and junior Lisa Wickham, both reached the podium on both, the track and the field, at the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) Championship at the Birmingham Metro CrossPlex in Alabama.
Roberts won gold in the high jump event with a 1.73m-leap. She also competed in the long jump and placed 13th with 5.26m. Over on the track, the Tobago-born athlete raced in the 200m and crossed eight in 26.66, qualifying with the eighth fastest time (24.87). Wickham also lined-up in the half-lap event and missed out on a medal placing fifth in 25.81.
Wickham did get success in the 60m dash, copping silver with 7.49. Her qualifying time of 7.41 was the fastest in the opening round. She later partnered with Roberts as part of the Tennessee Tech relay team to score gold in a time of 3:48.90.
Lewis picks up 60m silver
On Sunday at the Boston University Last Chance Qualifier, Aaron Lewis sped to silver in the men's 60m hurdles. The Coppin State junior clocked 7.90, bettering his qualifying time of 7.94 in the previous round.
At the Big 12 Championships at the Texas Tech-Sports Performance Center in Lubbock, Texas Christian University (TCU) freshman Jenea Spinks placed eighth in the women's 60m in 7.42.
In Seattle, Washington, Arizona State University junior Jeminise Parris only took part in the 4x400m relay at the MPSF Indoor Track & Field Championships and her team placed 12th in 3:52.68.
Competing on the NCAA Division II level, Bemidji State junior Jada Barker lined-up in three events at the NSIC Track and Field Indoor Championship in Montana but did not reach the podium in any. She was 19th in the women's 60m (8.01), 17th in the 200m (26.01) and ran the second leg for Bemidji State in the 4x400m, placing 11th overall in 4:07.25.
On the high school track circuit, sisters Tamia and Taejha Badal have been thriving. Over the weekend, the siblings, who attend Tomball Concordia Lutheran and are part of the Track Houston Youth Club combined to win four gold medals and a silver at the JCS-FCHS-CLHS Tri-Meet in Texas.
Taejha completed the sprint double, winning the girls 100m in 12.14 and then the 200m in a personal record 24.67.
Her older sister followed her to the line in the 100m, finishing as the runner-up in a personal record 12.59. Tamia dominated the hurdles events, winning the 100m hurdles in 14.27 and the 300m hurdles in 45.04.