Jacquelyn Johnson en route to her 4496 point tally in Fayetteville (© Kirby Lee)
Dusty Jonas, a 21-year-old University of Nebraska student, won the men’s High Jump on the final day (15 Mar) of the NCAA indoor championships. Jonas did with a lifetime best jump of 2.31, defeating favored Scott Sellers of Kansas State.
Jonas, whose best in 2007 was 2.27, had a clean sheet through 2.28, missed once at 2.31, and had three close attempts at 2.34.
Sellers, the sixth-ranked U.S. jumper in 2007 at 2.33, could only clear 2.25 tonight, although he had the height but not the timing at 2.28, when his feet clipped the bar three times.
In the men’s 60m, Richard Thompson (TRI) gave us reason to think that he will be a formidable contender outdoors over 100m. He ran his second consecutive 6.51 to win the title, edging his Louisiana State teammate Trindon Holliday, who ran 6.54 for his season’s best.
Holliday’s bullet start put him in front early, but a surge by Thompson at about 40m won it for him.
The women’s 60m was won by Kelly-Ann Baptiste, also from Trinidad and also competing for Louisiana State. She edged Alexandria Anderson of Texas, 7.163 to 7.169. Friday’s leading qualifier at 7.16 was third tonight at 7.19.
Jacquelyn Johnson of Arizona State won her third consecutive women’s Pentathlon with a personal best of 4496 points, which is just inside the top 100 all-time worldwide, but perhaps surprisingly only the third best by an American. She came from behind with a 2:13.45 800 metres, off a 62-second first 400.
The men’s 20-pound (9kg) Weight Throw was won by Ukraine’s Egor Agafanov, who competes here for the University of Kansas, with a throw of 22.71m.
James Dunaway for the IAAF
