AKELA JONES had herself quite the birthday weekend.
Barbados’ darling of track of field continues to show off her varied talents in athletics by becoming just the second Bajan to dip under 13 seconds in the women’s 100 metres hurdles yesterday at the John McDonnell Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Running for Kansas State University, Jones celebrated turning 21 on Friday by placing second in the event with a clocking of 12.94 seconds (wind +1.7) – eclipsing her previous best of 13.10.
Jones joined national record holder Kierre Beckles, who ran 12.88 at last year’s World Championships in Beijing, as the only Bajan women to clock sub-13 in the sprint hurdles.
The performance came just one day after Jones leaped 6.55 metres to comfortably win the long jump and fall just shy of her outdoor national record of 6.60.
Fellow Bajans Burkheart Ellis and Tia Adana Belle qualified for the Rio Olympics yesterday after winning the men’s 200 (20.36) and women’s 400 hurdles (55.82), respectively, at the CIAA Outdoor track and Field Championships in Charlotte. (JM)