Ja trio shine in Pittsburg
Three Jamaican prospects shone at the NCAA Division Two Indoor Championships last weekend. On the campus of Pittsburg State University, Diana Johnson, Shannon Kalawan and Sadeekie Edie triumphed for Adams State University, St Augustine’s University and Lincoln University of Missouri, respectively. Johnson took the women’s 60 metres, with Kalawan and Edie completing the Jamaica triple with success in the women’s 400 metres and the men’s long jump.
Johnson repeated her 2017 victory in 7.26 seconds to win over fellow Jamaican Renee Medley of Lincoln. As a high school student-athlete, Johnson starred at Champs for Holmwood Technical and spent time at the G.C. Foster College for Physical Education and Sport before moving abroad.
Kalawan, the 2016 World Under20 400 metre hurdles secondplace finisher while at Edwin Allen, edged fellow Jamaican Renee Ambersley by 0.04 to win the 400 metres, while Edie, the former Calabar High School ace, won the long jump. Kalawan’s win took 54.54 seconds and Edie, a teammate of Medley and Ambersley at Lincoln, leapt 7.76 metres.
The win by Edie was especially sweet because this is his final season of indoor eligibility. In 2016, the former Calabar and G.C. Foster College athlete triumphed at the same Pittsburg State venue.
Diana Caldwell, formerly of St Jago High School, leapt on to the podium twice. She spanned 6.15 metres for third in the long and 12.81 metres to take second in the triple jump. She too is a student-athlete at Lincoln, where the head coach is well-known Jamaican Victor ‘Poppy’ Thomas.
Lincoln finished a strong third in the women’s team championship race with 36 points behind West Texas A&M on top with 53.