The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

STRONGWOMAN Serena Brown and versatile Charisma Taylor shared the spotlight for the Bahamas on Saturday as the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Outdoor Track and Field Championships came to a close in Eugene, Oregon.

Brown, the Bahamas women’s discus national record holder competing as a junior for Iowa, had to settle for 10th place in the final of her speciality with a toss of 187-feet, 2-inches or 57.06 metres on her second attempt. She did 187-2 (57.06m) on her first attempt and fouled her third rounds of the discus for Honourable Mention All-American.

Brown, however, got a chance to celebrate as her team-mate Laulauga Tausaga got a personal best heave of 208-5 (63.53m) on her second attempt for second place as she surpassed the qualifying standard of 208-4 (63.50m) for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, July 23 to August 8.

Arizona State’s junior Jorinde Van Klinken spoiled the party when she posted a personal best, NCAA-leading and meet record of 213-3 (65.01m) to also surpass the Olympic standard in winning the title.

Iowa finished tied with Auburn, Colorado and North Carolina State for 26th place with 11 points.

Taylor, in the other final on the field on the final day of the women’s segment of the championships, could do no better than 18th place in the triple jump with a best leap of 43-1 1/2 (13.14m) on her second attempt to earn Honourable Mention All-American.

The junior at Washington State also did 42-11 (13.08m) on her first attempt and 42-9 3/4 (13.05m) on her third attempt. Nigerian Ruth Usoro, a junior at Texas Tech, won the title with a distance of 46-6 3/4 (14.19m) on her third attempt.

Washington State ended up tied with Cornell, Richmond and Weber State for 63rd place with just one point apiece. The curtain came down on the four day championships with the women’s 4 x 400m relay as Doneisha Anderson and Megan Moss hooked up for the University of Florida and the University of Kentucky respectively.

Anderson, who only competed in the relay, helped Florida to a fourth place finish in a season’s best of 3:26.31, while Moss, who didn’t advance out of the 400m semifinals, was on Kentucky’s team that came in eighth in 3:28.68.

All eyes, however, were on Texas A&M, who surged to a season’s best, NCAA leading time and meet, facility and championship record of 3:22.34, thanks to an incredible split of 48.85 by freshman Athing Mu.

Mu, an 800m specialist, also won the 400m in 49.57, breaking all of the records except Bahamian Shaunae Miller-Uibo’s facility time of 59.08 she set on April 24, 2019.

Florida was tied with Texas for seventh place with 28 points, while Kentucky came in 21st with North Dakota State and Rice with 13 points.

At the beginning of the day in the women’s 4 x 100m relays, Camille Rutherford and Brianne Bethel teamed up with Samiyah Samuls and Tristan Evelyn as they raced to a seventh place finish for the University of Houston in 44.29.

The University of South Carolina took the title in 42.82.

Bethel, a native of Grand Bahama who has already qualified for the Olympics in the 100m, made a return to the track after she sat out the semifinal of the women’s 200m on Thursday on day two of the championship.

Earlier in the day, Bethel got fifth in her semifinal heat of the women’s 100m in 11.49 for 18th overall, while Rutherford was sixth in her heat in 11.40 for 10th place, two spots shy of getting into the final.

Houston ended up 58th, tied with Binghamton, Furman and UNLA with two points each.

Also on Thursday, Rhema Otabor, a freshman at Florida International University, was the first Bahamian to compete in a final, but she had to settle for 21st in the women’s javelin final with a best heave of 162-9 (49.60m) on her third attempt.

Otabor’s two other series of throws in the first and second rounds were 133-10 (40.79m) and 137-3 (41.85m) respectively as she watched as Georgia’s senior Marie-Theresa OBST took the title with 195-10 (59.69m) on her fifth attempt.

FIU didn’t get on the scoreboard.

On the men’s side, two Bahamians hooked up in the final of the triple jump on Friday with Purdue’s junior Tamar Greene getting 13th with a best leap of 52-0 (15.85m) on his second attempt, while Arkansas’ senior Laquan Nairn coming 17th with 51-7 (15.72m), both on their second attempts.

Greene and Nairn, by the way, both fouled their first and second attempts to knock them out of contention to get into the top eight spots to compete in the final round of the top eight competitors in the final three rounds.

Oregon’s freshman Emmanuel Ihemeje didn’t have any problems as he won the event with a lifetime best and championship leading pop of 56-2 3/4 (17.14m) on his first attempt to match the Olympic qualifying standard.

In the only other final for a Bahamian, Grand Bahamian freshman Terrance Jones didn’t compete for Texas A&M as they didn’t finish the race. Jones ran the anchor leg as their team advanced to the final on Wednesday with a fourth in their heat in 39.09 for eighth and final qualifying time for the final.

Also in the relay, sophomore Adrian Curry ran the third leg for Ohio State as they ended up fourth in their heat in 39.32 for 12th place overall and Colebrooke ran the first two legs as Purdue got seventh in their heat in 39.68 for 19th overall.

In the semifinals of the 200m on Wednesday, Colebrooke finished seventh in his heat in 21.01 for 22nd overall, while Jones did not finish.

Colebrooke, who has already qualified for the Olympics in the 100m, did not qualify for the shorter sprint race for the NCAA Championships.

In the men’s final standings, Ohio State was tied for 57th place with two points along with North Carolina, Northern Iowa, Wyoming. Purdue nor Texas Tech scored.