Jumper Distin cops collegiate Athlete of the Week award
JAMAICAN national record holder Lamara Distin of Texas A&M University was earlier this week named the NCAA Division One women’s field events athlete of the week after she improved her personal best in the high jump to 1.97m, winning the event at the Texas A&M Alumni Muster on Saturday.
Distin, who had set the indoor (1.92m) and outdoor (1.96m) national records earlier this season, improved on her world and NCAA leading marks and was also named the Southeastern Conference Field Athlete of the Week as well.
Two other Jamaicans — Romaine Beckford of the University of South Florida (USF) and Jevaughn Powell of the University of Texas-el Paso (UTEP) — were also recognised by their respective conferences.
Distin, the NACAC Under-20 champion in 2021 and World Under-20 finalist in 2018, has been on a tear all season and her latest improvement saw her move into a tie for the fourth best on the all-time collegiate chart with Tanya Hughes, whose bar had set a collegiate record 20 years ago. That mark by Distin also bettered her own Jamaican record of 1.96m (6-5).
Distin, who failed in her attempt to break the college record 2.00m on Saturday, has been a model of consistency this season and has gone over 1.93m in four of the five meets in which she competed, including two over 1.96m.
Beckford, who won the Penn Relay College Men’s high jump championships after clearing 2.23m last weekend, was named the American Athletics Conference (AAC) men’s field event Athlete of the Week.
The former Buff Bay High athlete is the second best high jumper ever at USF and is tied for fourth place in the
NCAA Division One list.
Powell, the former Edwin Allen and Kingston College runner, was named Conference USA Male Track Athlete of the Week for the second time this season after clocking a personal-best 45.29 seconds to win his this consecutive 400m race, at the Desert Heat Classic hosted by the University of Arizona on April 30.
His previous personal best was 46.17 seconds and he is now the top ranked in the event in Conference USA and the Mountain Region and eighth best in the NCAA.