Former sprint ace Yohan Blake missed the chance to qualify for the Jamaican team after false-starting and being disqualified from the preliminary rounds of the 100m on the opening day of the JAAA National Senior and Junior Track and Field Championships inside the National Stadium in Kingston on Thursday.
Competing in Heat Three of the prelims for Titans Track Club, the 2011 World Champion left his starting blocks early after the command for set and was shown the red card by a starting official.
The second fastest man in history protested and caused a delay to the restart of the event for minutes before being cajoled to leave the starting area.
Blake had earlier seen Rasheed Foster of Cameron Blazers being disqualified from the same event, which was won by Kadrian Goldson of G C Foster College in a smart 9.94 seconds (0.7mps). Rohan Watson of MVP Track Club took second place in 9.98 seconds, with Julian Forte of Elite Performance taking third place in 10.10 seconds.
MVP’s Kishane Thompson had set tongues wagging in Heat One when he blazed the track in a new personal best 9.91 seconds (0.6 mps) ahead of Ackeem Blake of Titans in 10.00 and Ryien Forde third in 10.01 seconds.
Oblique Seville of Racers Track Club cruised to an effortless 10.00 seconds (0.3mps) to win Heat Two, comfortably ahead of Ramone Barnswell on MVP in 10.13 seconds and Tyquendo Tracey of Swept Track Club next in 10.22 seconds.
The fourth and final heat resulted in Nigel Ellis of Elite Performance claiming top honours in 10.07 seconds (0.6mps) ahead of Michael Campbell of MVP in 10.10 seconds and Bouwahjgie Nkrumie of Dr Speed third in 10.21 seconds.
Earlier in the evening Shericka Jackson of MVP threw down the gauntlet in Heat One of the women’s short sprint by stopping the clock at 10.99 seconds for an easy win. Jonielle Smith of the same club clinched second place from Briana Williams of Titans though both athletes were accredited with 11.19 seconds.
Alana Reid claimed Heat Two in 11.14 seconds (0.6mps), with Remona Burchell of Sprintec being second in 11.20 seconds with Kiara Grant taking third place in 11.31 seconds.
Natasha Morrison of MVP won Heat Three in 11.00 seconds (-0.4c mps) with Shashalee Forbes of Sprintec running 11.09 seconds for second place, with Kevona Davis of the University of Texas third in 11.12 seconds.
In the fourth and final heat, Elaine Thompson of New Era Track Club claimed top-spot in 11.12 seconds (0.3mps). Ashanti Moore was second in 11.15, with Kemba Nelson of Elite and the MVP pair of Tina Clayton and Shockoria Wallace next in 11.19 seconds.
The top three athletes from each preliminary event qualify for the semi-finals with the final slated to close out Friday’s session.
Meanwhile, Tissanna Hickling and Ackelia Smith punched their tickets to the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, at the end of the women’s long jump competition.
Hickling jumped 6.85m, the identical standard mark for qualification to the World Championships. Incidentally, the effort was originally ruled a foul, but that decision was reversed after the athlete protested.
Smith finished third with 6.66m but entered the National Championships with a world-leading 7.08m, which is above the standard.
In the high jump competition, Lamara Distin cleared the bar at 1.91m, well clear of Kimberly Williamson with 1.85m. Distin had already attained the qualifying mark of 1.97m, while Williamson is in the world ranking quota.
The National Championships will run for four days and will be used to select teams for upcoming events including the World Championships in Hungary in a few weeks’ time.
