University of South Florida’s Romaine Beckford, a two-time NCAA champion, emerged triumphant in the men’s high jump competition at the National Senior and Junior Championships at the National Stadium on Friday.
Beckford, currently the highest-ranked Jamaican male jumper this season with an effort of 2.27m, secured the victory by successfully clearing 2.23m. However, this result fell well short of the World Championship standard of 2.30m.
Christoff Bryan, hailing from MVP Track Club, put up a fierce battle against Beckford until the very end and also managed to clear 2.23m, securing second place in the event.
Lushane Wilson from GC Foster College cleared 2.15m to secure third place.
The championships, set to conclude on Sunday, are serving as the Jamaica Trials for upcoming international competitions.
Senior athletes are fiercely contending for coveted spots to represent the country at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, scheduled to take place from August 19 to 27.
Distin has already achieved the qualifying mark of 1.97m for the World Athletics Championships and will represent Jamaica in Budapest.
Alongside selecting the team for the World Athletics Championships, the Jamaica trials will also determine the composition of the squads for three junior competitions. These competitions include the NACAC Under-18 and Under-23 Championships in San Jose, Costa Rica (July 21-23), the Pan American Under-20 Athletics Championships in Puerto Rico (August 4-6), and the Under-18 Commonwealth Youth Games in Port of Spain, Trinidad (August 6-9).
