By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

QUARTER-milers Javonya Valcourt and Alonzo Russell took the spotlight in various meets over the weekend in the United States as the outdoor season began to intensify for our collegiate and elite athletes.

Valcourt shines at Tennessee Invite

As the University of Tennessee closed out its home meet at the Tennessee Invite on Saturday, sophomore Valcourt clocked a lifetime best of 51.69 seconds to surpass her previous time of 52.12 as a freshman to win the women’s 400 metres over her senior team-mate Brianna White in 51.86, also a lifetime performance.

In the process, it turned out to be the number seven and eight best times respectively posted so far on the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s chart this year and it also puts Valcourt at No.4 and White at No.7 in the history of the Lady Vol’s women outdoor 400m.

Valcourt and Tennessee will be back in action this weekend at the Tom Jones Memorial in Gainesville, Florida from April 12-13 as they march towards the Southeast Conference (SEC) Championships from May 9-11 in Gainesville and the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds May 22-25 in Lexington, Kentucky, before it all culminates at the NCAA Championships June 5-8 in Eugene, Oregon.

Russell and Miller at Miramar Invitational

As the elite athletes prepare to come home for the return of the World Athletics’ sixth World Relays at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium from May 4-5, Alonzo Russell and Wendell Miller packed a 1-2 punch at the 2024 Miramar Invitational at the Ansin Sports Complex in Miramar, Florida.

Russell, the Grand Bahamian native, won the men’s 400 metres in 35.35 seconds, while Miller, who is training in Jamaica, got third in 46.00, both in their season’s best times. Splitting the pair of Bahamians for second was Alex Ogando of the Dominican Republic in 45.36.

Charisma Taylor posted a fourth place finish in the women's 100m hurdles as she completed the ten flights of hurdles in a season's best of 12.98. American Alaysha Johnson took the tape in 12.80. Great Britain's Cindy Sember was second in 12.83 and American Amber Hughes was third in 12.94.

Taylor also ran the seventh fastest qualifying time of 13.17 in the preliminaries to get into the final of the women's 100m hurdles.

In the men’s 200m, Ian Kerr placed 11.58. The race was won by American Kenny Bednarek in 20.23 with fellow American Christian Coleman as the runner-up in 20.43 and Jamaican Rusheen McDonald third in 21.09.

The athletes are pre- paring to represent the Bahamas against the world at the World Relays as spots for the men and women 4 x 100 and 4 x 400m relays as well as the mixed relay will be booked for the big showdown at the Olympic Games in Paris, France, July 26 to August 11.

Jackson leads the way at Hurricane Invite

At the Hurricane Alumni Invitational at the Cobb Stadium in Coral Gables, Florida, Calea Jackson, a freshman at the University of Miami, tossed the discus 161-feet, 10-inches or 49.32 metres on her second attempt for sixth place.

The winning throw came from Maura Huwalt, who competed unattached, with 188-1 (57.32m) on her third attempt.

Sasha Wells, competing unattached, was 12th in the women’s 100m hurdles in 14.20 after placing sixth in her heat, won by the overall champion Yanique Thompson from Jamaica in 13.02.

Kunal Bain, competing in the men’s 100m, placed 23rd overall in a time of 10.94 after he was third in his heat, won by Amiri Prescod, a sophomore at Villanova, in 10.68. American Fred Kerley won the overall title in 10.11.

Bain was also 21st in the 200m in 22.08 for another third in his heat, won by Montreal Bennett, a sophomore at Bethune-Cookman, in 21.52.

The winning time overall was 20.77 by Jackson Clarke, a freshman at Princeton, in 20.77.

And Xavier Coakley, running unattached, was eighth in the men’s 110m hurdles in 14.45 after he placed seventh in his heat that was won by the overall winner Rasheem Brown of the Cayman Islands in 13.77.

Miller third at Gamecock

Also competing over the weekend at the Gamecock Invitational in Columbia, South Carolina, Shaun Miller Jr, now in his senior year at Ohio State, cleared 6-07 (2.01m) on his first attempt for third place in the men’s high jump.

The winning leap was 6-11 (2.11m) by Channing Ferguson, followed by Nathanil Figgers, with 6-09 (2.06m) in a 1-2 sweep for South Carolina.

Miller Jr and the Buckeyes will compete again this weekend between the Tom Jones Memorial in Gainesville, Florida and the Bryan Clay Invite in Azusa, California.

Stubbs and company at Arkansas Invite

Keithwood Stubbs, a junior, led the way for a few Bahamians from Oral Roberts with 11th place in the men’s long jump with 20-1 3/4 (6.14m) at the Arkansas Spring Invitational at the John McDonnell Field at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Also competing was Ethan Hanna, a senior at Oral Roberts, who finished 20th in the men’s 400m in 51.59. Evan Sanni-Thomas, a junior at Tulsa, won the event in 48.31. And freshman Jonathan Fowler was 25th in the men’s 100m for Oral Roberts in 10.71. The winning time was 9.98 by Traunard Folson, a sophomore at Indian Hills (Iowa).

The Bahamian connection will be back in action for the Golden Eagles this weekend at the Sooner Invitational in Norman, Oklahoma April 12-13.

Brianne Bethel seventh in 200m

At the Burrell Alumni Invitational at the Tom Tellez Track at the Carl Lewis International Complex in Houston, Texas, Grand Bahamian Brianne Bethel appeared in a pair of female sprint events.

Running for the Elite Performance Track Club, Bethel contested the invitational women’s 200m where she placed seventh in a time of 11.66. The winner was Tristen Evelyn of API Athletics in 11.11.

And in the collegiate 200, she fared a little better with a fourth-place finish in 24.04.

Evelyn once again took the top spot in her winning time of 23.26.

Bethel is also preparing to come home to compete in the World Relays next month.