Multiple successes for Jamaicans at SWAC in Birmingham
Jamaican thrower Cesar Kemp and middle distance runner michaela Lewis of alabama State University retained their men’s shot put and women’s 800m titles, as Danniel Bailey of the University of arkansas Pine-bluff won the men’s weight throw and Duvaire Wauchope of alabama State won the men’s 800m at the Southwestern athletics Conference (SWAC) track and field indoor conference in Birmingham, alabama, earlier this week.
The Jamaican men swept the first three places in both the shot put and weight throw while Lewis won three gold medals anchoring both the distance medley and mile relay teams to victories.
Lewis, who attended Manchester High School and The Queen’s School, set a big new personal best two minutes 10.12 seconds to win the 800m on Thursday’s second day of the championships, breaking her previous 2:13.99 minutes as well as the Facility Record that stood at 2:12.41 minutes.
Her first gold came on Wednesday when she anchored the distance medley relay team to their win and then finished the championships in style on Thursday with another successful anchor leg on the 4x400m teams.
Wauchope, who attended Wolmer’s Boys’ School and Jamaica College and started college at the University of Maryland Eastern Shores, ran a personal best 1:55.19 minutes to win, beating teammate and former Wolmer’s Boy’ School runner Kevin Smith, who clocked 1:55.36 minutes.
On Wednesday evening, Kemp, who attended Calabar High School and who was ranked second in the conference behind Deandre Fyffe, threw 15.72m to win the shot put, overtaking Fyffe in the third round as the Arkansas Pine-bluff athlete finished second with 15.48m and his teammate Danniel Bailey, who finished second last year and is formerly of Wolmer’s
Boys’ School, took third with 14.55m.
In the weight throw on Thursday, Bailey, who was seventh last year, lived up to his top billing by winning with 16.73m, just off his personal best 16.75m set last month.
Kemp repeated his second place from last year with 16.48m with Fyffe third with 16.26m.
In the women’s shot put, Joelle Stewart, who attended Excelsior High School, was third on Wednesday with a mark of 12.69m, her best placing after being sixth last year and eighth in 2019.
She was also fourth in the weight throw with 15.75m, also her best showing in the event at the indoor conference.
On Thursday, Kevin Smith of Alabama State, finished third in the men’s mile in a personal best 4:23.44 minutes and a day earlier had teamed with Wauchope to help Alabama State win the men’s distance medley relay in a new meet record 10:17.01 minutes.
Former The Queen’s School runner Tatyana Mckenzie of Arkansas Pine-bluff was fifth in the 200m in 24 .98 seconds and ninth in the 400m with 58.27 seconds, while Kimorla Muschett of Alcorn State ran 26.38 seconds in the 200m.
Aneisha Ingram of Alabama A&M was fifth in the 5,000m in 21:10.62 minutes and sixth in the 3,000m in 11:37.55 minutes.