Leford Green became the Jamaican National 400m hurdle champion with a time of 48.90 seconds
Kingston, Jamaica - Rising JCSU senior
Leford Green (St. Catherine, Jamaica) became the Jamaican national 400m hurdle champion on Saturday, June 26th by defeating a strong field in National Stadium to capture the victory in 48.90 seconds. Green got off to a great start, but experienced minor technical difficulties between the third and fifth hurdle.
Leaving the 200m mark, Green made a decisive move and built a two-meter lead coming into the home stretch. This was Green's first national senior title and qualifies him to represent Jamaica at the XXI CAC Games (Central American and Caribbean Games) to be held in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico on July 22-27 2010. It was also his second fastest time (48.90 sec) ever in this event.
Green has had a stellar year in track and field and his coach
Lennox Graham is aiming to close the athlete's competitive season on a high note. "Leford has successfully made the transition from the 400m to the 400m hurdles and has adapted well to the things we tried to teach this year,” said Graham. “We will do a bit more work on the middle transition area of his race and see how well he will respond in his final meet in three weeks."
Also, rising JCSU junior
Rosemarie Carty (St. Andrew, Jamaica) executed a performance out of the top drawer in her first ever national senior championships placing fourth in the final of the 100m hurdles at the Supreme Ventures Jamaica Amateur Athletics Association's National Senior Trials held in National Stadium. Carty competing out of lane seven and had a great start in the final, but had to recover from poor technical execution between hurdles one and two to record a new personal best (PB) of 13.31 seconds.
This surpasses her previous best in the event (13.37) and qualifies her to be Jamaica's top representative in the NACAC U23 meet in Miramar, FL from July 9-11, 2010. "It was a great experience for Rosemarie to compete with the seniors (20 years old or over) in her event for the first time,” stated head track and field coach
Lennox Graham. “It completed the transition from junior to senior and she had a PB doing it. I expect her to run even faster at the NACAC U23 meet in just over a week.”
Green and Carty continue to bring pride to Johnson C. Smith University, which has become a household name in Jamaica.
