The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIAN student athletes were prominently featured among the lists of qualifiers for various divisions in the upcoming NCAA and NAIA Indoor Track and Field Championships.

The NCAA Division I meet is scheduled for March 11-13 at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas and Bahamians will participate both on the track and in the field.

The Purdue Boilermakers, led by head coach Norbert Elliot, has five NCAA indoor qualifiers in five events for the second consecutive year.

Tamar Greene will compete in the triple jump, where he is seeded No. 10. He earned a qualifying jump of 16.14 metres, the third-best triple jump mark in programme history, as he won a bronze medal at the Big Ten Championships on February 26.

Charisma Taylor of the Washington State Cougars also qualified in the triple jump.

At the Matador Qualifier in February, she won the triple jump (13.45m), setting a meet record in the process while competing at Texas Tech. Taylor also won the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.16 seconds, which was an all-time Washington State Track best, personal best, and another meet record.

On the track, Megan Moss of the Kentucky Wildcats qualified both in the 400m and as a member of the 4X400m relay team.

The Wildcats, led by head coach Lonnie Greene, qualified 11 entrants for the championships.

In the 400m, Moss is ranked No.12 with a seed time of 52.32. Moss and the school-record-setting 4x400m relay unit of Abby Steiner, Masai Russell and Dajour Miles is the No. 3 national seed with their season’s best time of 3:28.82.

Doneisha Anderson is a member of a Florida Gators programme that has qualified 22 entrants, second most in the nation.

Anderson is a member of two relay teams, the No. 7 ranked 4x400m team, which comes in with a time of 3:31.75. They finished fifth in the 2019 Championships and recently won bronze at the SEC Championships.

She is also a member of the distance medley relay team that qualified with a time of 11:00.31. This is the team’s second consecutive qualification, following their silver at the SEC Championships.

The NCAA Division II Championships are scheduled for March 11-13 at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Alabama. 

Minnesota State Moorhead’s Shyrone Kemp has qualified for the NCAAs in the triple jump for the second consecutive year.

His winning effort of 15.30m at the NSIC Indoor Championships is tied for third-best in the nation. That jump was also a school indoor record.

Kemp earned All-Region honours from the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. He was also an All-American last year in the triple jump.

Jahmaal Wilson of West Texas A and M also qualified in the 60m hurdles.

The NAIA Track and Field Championships began this week and continue through Saturday, March 6.

The event is being held at the Ruth Donohoe First Dakota Fieldhouse on the campus of Mount Marty University in Yankton, South Dakota.

Antonishka Deveaux of India Tech opened the competition as a member of the 4x400m relay team.

She teamed with Xuxa Peart, Brianna Tillman, and Destinee McGrady to finish first in heat one in 3:55.20, earning automatic qualification.