Sixteen Jamaican men make NCAA Champs

Jamaican men will have their presence felt at next month's NCAA Division One Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon, as an additional 13 athletes punched tickets following the second and final day of competition at the East and West Regional meets, bringing the overall number of qualifiers from the island to 16.

On Friday's final day of competition, where the top 12 athletes from both regions automatically qualified for the Championships, it was the discus throwers who stole the show, with four athletes advancing from the East and two from the West. 

At the East Regional meet in Lexington, Kentucky, four men booked their tickets, with Shamar Reid of Florida State University leading the way with a throw of 64.22 metres to be the top qualifier. Trevor Gunzell of the University of Alabama was second best with 61.77m, while Chad Hendricks of Louisiana State University was seventh with 58.30m, and Christopher Young of Auburn eighth with 58.26m.

Over at the West Regionals in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Jamaican throwers also produced the top two marks with Ralford Mullings of the University of Oklahoma throwing 64.51 metres, while Racquil Broderick of the University of South Carolina was second best with 62.66m.

Apalos Edwards also advanced in the field events after placing third in the men's triple jump at the West Regionals for Kansas State University with a leap of 16.65 metres.

Six athletes, led by Tyrice Taylor, secured qualification spots on the track, with Taylor emerging as the top man in the 800m. Representing the University of Arkansas in the west, Taylor stopped the clock at 1:44.35 in his heat of the men's 800m. His teammate, Rivaldo Marshall, won his heat in 1:45.10 to finish third overall.

Also qualifying from the west were Demario Prince of Baylor, Kimar Farquharson of Texas A&M and Jerome Campbell of Arkansas.

Prince won his men's 110m hurdles heat in 13.22 seconds to be the fourth fastest overall qualifier, while Campbell was third in his heat in 13.42 seconds to advance as the ninth best qualifier. Kimar Farquharson completed the list of qualifiers after finishing second in his 400m heat in 45.30 seconds to be the sixth fastest overall qualifier.

Sprint hurdler Sharvis Simmonds of Clemson was the lone Jamaican qualifier on the track in the east after finishing third in his men's 110m hurdles heat in 13.39 seconds to be the seventh best overall qualifier.

The 13 qualifiers on Friday joined three other Jamaicans, who had already booked their tickets on Wednesday's opening day of competition. 

Jordan Turner of LSU was third in the long jump with 7.91 metres, Shaquain Dunn of the University of Texas was ninth in the shot put with 18.81 metres, and Kobe Lawrence of Oregon finished 12th in the shot put with 18.69m.