BARBADIAN athletes made some significant strides on the United States’ collegiate circuit last weekend with Shavonne Husbands and Greggmar Swift reaching the qualifying standard for this summer’s Commonwealth Games in Scotland.
Former Deighton Griffith and Combermere student Husbands qualified in the women’s 200 metres when she raced to second place at the Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships in a personal best of 23.48 seconds, inside the qualifying time of 23.50 seconds.
Her Missouri State University colleague Althea Maximilien was fourth in 23.97 while another Barbadian, Shandel Ellis, of Illinois State, was fifth in 24.06.
Husbands also came second in the 100 metres, clocking another personal best 11.67 seconds and, along with Maximilien, helped Missouri (3:42.41) gain a silver medal in the 4×400 metres relay, behind Indiana State.
Swift, of Indiana State University, also qualified for the Commonwealth Games when he ran the exact required time of 13.55 seconds to win the 110-metres hurdles.
Kemar Jones (14.27) of Southern Illinois was fourth and Daley Carter (14.64) of Indiana State was sixth in the race. Jones and Carter had clocked 14.18 and 14.43, respectively, in the preliminaries.
Swift, a former St Leonard’s Boys’ and Lodge School athlete, joins Shane Brathwaite as the two qualifiers so far in the 110-metres hurdles with 2009 World champion Ryan Brathwaite yet to run under the qualifying mark this year.
Maximilien also tasted victory in the women’s 400 metres, clocking 54.12 seconds with Ellis second in 54.23 seconds.
Cindy Forde, now on a comeback trail after a lay-off through injury, also ran in the heat, which was won by Maximilien but only managed a time of 58.79 seconds.
Illinois State’s Fabian Norgrove (47.74) was third in the 400 metres which was won by Kevin Glastetter of Loyota in 46.72 seconds, but former Lodge schoolboy Anderson Devonish, after winning his heat in 48.38 seconds, limped home in the final in 55.93 seconds.
Devonish (22.01) and Norgrove (22.10) failed to make the final of the 200 metres.
Meanwhile, last year’s 200 metres national champion Ariel Jackson came up short in the 200 metres Commonwealth qualifying mark but made the requirement for the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games (23.70) and the NACAC Under-23 Championships (23.80).
She clocked a commendable 23.63 seconds in finishing third at the JUCO National Championships.
Her 11.87 seconds failed to secure a place in the 100-metres final.