The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

It was a good day in the triple jump pit on Saturday as Bahamians Charisma Taylor booked a Bahamian national record and Tamar Greene earned All-American honours at the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division One Indoor Championship.

The event at the Randal Tyson Center at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas, also saw quarter-miler Megan Moss make up for her disappointment in the women’s 400m preliminaries by helping the University of Kentucky hold off fellow Bahamian Denisha Anderson and Florida State in the 4 x 400m relay showdown.

Taylor record feat

Saving her best for her junior year at Washington State University, Taylor finished fifth in the women’s triple jump final for a lifetime best and both a Cougars and Bahamian national record.

And in the process, her four points enabled Washington State University to emerge in a five-way tie for 35th place on the team standings.

The 21-year-old former Queen’s College standout’s leap of 44-feet, 8-inches or 13.61 metres erased Tamara Myers’ national record of (13.60m) that she posted on February 10, 2018 at the Tyson Invitational at the same location in Fayetteville.

“This is the best shape I’ve been in my life and I still have more to go. I just want to thank God for his continued blessings and favour,” Taylor told The Tribune as she also lauded her coach Doug Fraley and her family for their support.

“The competition was top tier, so I knew I had to jump big from my first jump and that’s what I did. I had a couple (jumps) that were huge, but were fouls. But I know it’s going to come in God’s time.”

Ruth Usoro, a senior at Texas Tech, won the title with a leap of 46-10 (14.27m) on her sixth and final attempt, which matched the meet record that was set by Keturah Orji of Georgia in 2018. It was the same distance for Texas A&M’s senior Deborah Acquah, who had to settle for second with a PR as well on her third attempt.

After she cleared 13.61m on her first attempt, Taylor said she was content, but she was grateful that she was able to secure some points for her team.

She scratched the second, duplicated her mark from the first round in the third, fouled the fourth and closed out her register with 43-3 3.4 (13.20m) and 42-11 (13.08m) on the fifth and sixth attempts.

The record, according to Taylor, was icing on the cake.

“I didn’t even know I had broken the record until after the meet,” she said. “But overall, I am super thankful and proud of myself and I’m ready for what is coming in the outdoor season.”

Taylor’s father, Dewey Taylor, said he and his wife, Patrice, were very proud of their daughter’s achievement.

“We are so happy for Charisma and her accomplishments to date,” he said. “Her hard work is coming together. To God be the glory.”

Greene 7th with TJ PR

In the men’s triple jump at the NCAA Indoors, Purdue Boilermaker’s senior Tamar Greene picked up a seventh place finish with a personal best of 53-5 (16.28m), a performance he owed to Jim Vanhootegem, the assistant coach responsible for jumps/multis.

“I was pretty happy. I walked away with something,” said Greene, the 22-year-old native from Andros, who graduated from Queen’s College. “Coach (Vanhootegem) was really happy too because he felt I did really well.

“The most important thing is I came away with a PR and I improved on what I did before, so I got some knowledge to carry outdoors and hopefully the momentum will continue.”

Bahamian Norbert Elliott, the head coach at Purdue, noted that competing on the biggest collegiate stage and setting a personal best is noteworthy as it helped the Boilermakers to five-way tie for 37th place in the team standings.

“The competition was keen, but Tamar showed he is among the top jumpers in college,” said Elliott, a former triple jumper for the University of Texas at El Paso. “I am very happy for him.”

Greene, the son of Ricardo Greene and Pamela Moxey from Mangrove Cay, is a major in aviation management.

Emmanuel Ihemeje, a freshman at Oregon, soared 56-7 1/2 (17.26m) on his fourth attempt for a PR and championship leading performance for the victory.

After he opened with 52-10 (16.10m), Greene soared to his best mark of 53-5 (16.28m) on his second try. He scratched the third, only to come back with 52-2 (15.90m) on his fourth and fouled the fifth and sixth to complete his slate.

Moss didn’t advance in 400m

It wasn’t what she anticipated, but University of Kentucky’s sophomore Megan Moss clocked 53.31 for 13th overall, which denied her a trip to the final.

The Augustine’s College graduate got third in the fourth and final heat, which turned out to be the slowest in the preliminaries on Friday as none of the competitors in the race advanced to the final.

Moss, however, came back and ran the opening leg of Kentucky’s 4 x 400m relay team with a split of 53.79 and was joined by Abby Steiner (51.75), Masai Russe (53.00) and Dajour Miles (52.26) as they placed fourth their heat in 3:30.28 for fifth overall.

Meanwhile, Doneisha Anderson, on anchor, split 53.87 as the University of Florida took second in their heat in 3:30.58 for fifth place overall. The other members of the team were Taylor Manson (51.91), Talitha Diggs (51.87) and Sterling Lester (52.95).

Texas A&M took the title in 3:26.

Kentucky ended up 13th in the team standings with 17 points, while Florida was well ahead in sixth place with 30 points.