By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

SHAKEEM Hall-Smith ran away from the field in the men’s 400 metre hurdles over the weekend, but didn’t have anybody to push him at the end to get the Olympic Games qualifying time.

Hall-Smith highlighted a weekend of performances from a group of elite athletes, who are all preparing for the Olympics, scheduled for July 27 to August 11 in Paris, France.

Competing at the HBCU Pro Classic - the Edwin Moses Legends Meet at the Edwin Moses Track at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, Hall-Smith clocked a lifetime best of 48.79 seconds as he led from start to finish over the 10 flights of hurdles.

However, his time was just shy of the Olympic qualifying time of 48.70 as he held off a late surge by American Khallifah Rosser in 48.99.

Running blind out in lane eight, Hall-Smith said he was surprised by the time, but disappointed when he realised that he was that close to attaining the qualifying standard.

“Honesty, I didn’t know I was going that fast in the race,” Hall-Smith said.

“I was placed in lane eight and I knew there were some fast guys behind him, so I had to get out.

“After the first hurdle, I was on the back stretch mostly by myself and so I just ran it hard. I went into the second curve and just tried to run for my momentum on the straight away. I thought they would catch me, but I didn’t realise how far ahead I was until after the race.”

It was Hall-Smith’s seventh 400m hurdlers race for the year and although he came so close to qualifying, he said that he still has a few more chances to achieve the feat before he comes home for the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ Nationals and final Olympic trials at the end of the month.

Also at the Edwin Moses legends Meet, two Bahamians participated in the women's 200m with Camille Rutherford placing fifth in 23.45 and Printassia Johnson getting seventh in 23.53. Canadian Audrey Leduc won the race in 22.36.

Devynne Charlton leads the way in Jamaica

Over in Kingston, Jamaica, world indoor hurdles record holder Devynne Charlton led the way for a number of Bahamians in action on Saturday at the Racers Grand Prix.

Charlton, one of three Bahamians to have already surpassed the Olympic cut for the women’s 100m hurdles, won her specialty in the straight away as she cleared the 10 flights of hurdles in 12.64.

In surpassing the Olympic standard of 12.77, Charlton pulled along a pair of Jamaicans as Yanique Thompson got second in 12.66 and Amoi Brown was third in 12.73 as they also attained the cut for the games. Ian Kerr, competing for AllStarz Athletix Management, came in fourth in 20.65 as he continues to hold his own against some of the world’s best.

Trinidad & Tobago’s Jereem Richards won the title in an Olympic qualifier in 20.13, surpassing the standard of 20.16.

In the men’s triple jump, Kaiwan Culmer, representing BM Management, was fifth in the men’s triple jump with his best leap of 52-2 1/2 (15.91). Jamaican Jaydon Hibbert of Puma won with a world leading, season’s best, facility record and Olympic cut of 58-3(17.75m).The Olympic standard is 56-6 (17.22m).

Commonwealth Games champion LaQuan Nairn, competing for TrackWired, was also fifth in the men’s long jump with his best leap of 23-11 3/4 (7.31m). Jamaican Shawn-D Thompson of SprinTec, won with 25-7 1/2 (7.81m). The Olympic standard is 27-1 3/4 (8.27m). And two competitors were in the men’s high jump with Grand Bahamian Donald Thomas placing fifth with a clearance of 7-0 1/2 (2.15m), while Shaun Miller was seventh with 6-10 3/4 (2.10m).

It was a three-way tie for first with the Jamaica trio of Raymond Richards, Christoff Bryan and Lushane Wilson, all soaring 7-2 1⁄2 (2.20m).

The Olympic standard is 7-7 3/4 (2.33m).