Green, Williams end college careers in style

Former Kingston College quarter-miler Leford Green and former Convent of Mercy, Alpha hurdler Shermaine Williams ended their collegiate careers in fine style when, competing at the NCAA Division 11 Outdoor Championships for their school Johnson C. Smith University in Turlock, California, over the weekend, they both scored individual wins for their team.

Green, who has represented Jamaica at the senior level and who was this year's winner of the collegiate men's 400 metres hurdles event at the Penn Relays, got his first win on Saturday's final day of the competition of the three-day championships.

Competing in the 400 metres final, it was little sweat for the Lennox Graham-coached athlete as he easily took the event in 45.74 seconds to get the better of teammate Akino Ming, another former Kingston College athlete, who clocked 46.74 seconds. Lincoln University's Dane Hyatt made it a sweep for Jamaican athletes in the medals as he finished third in 46.96 seconds.

Green, who was favourite to win the men's 400 metres hurdles which took place less than an hour after the flat 400 metres, sacrificed this event for the 4x400 metres relay as he actually went through the motion in finishing sixth. Lincoln University's Steve Banton and Roxroy Cato made it a quinella for Jamaican athletes as Banton won in 51.96 seconds to Cato's second-place finish of 52.10 seconds. Green then teamed up with Ming and another former Kingston College athlete, Winston Brown, to give Johnson C. Smith their first relay success at this level, turning back a strong field to win the event in 3:07.59.

graduate school hopeful

In his final race for his team, Green, who stated that he wanted to go to graduate school, showered praises for the people who made his college journey successful. "I would like to thank the university, my coach and my teammates, who all made it possible for my success in college. I am hoping that I will be able to get a contract to continue my running career but, at the same time, my priority is to attend grad school," said Green.

Like she did last year, Williams, the 2009 Junior Pan Am 100 metres hurdles champion, was victorious in the event, once again turning back the challenge of former Vere Technical athlete, Indira Spence, who competed for Adam State University. Running in a strong tail wind of 3.2 metres per second, Williams clocked 12.95 seconds for the win, with Spence taking second in 13.05 seconds. Williams' younger sister, Danielle, in her first year at Johnson C. Smith, was third in 13.13 seconds.

It was actually two individual medals for Danielle. She clocked 11.52 seconds for the runner-up spot in the women's 100 metres. It created another sweep for Jamaican athletes as former Manchester High athlete, Judith Riley, competing for Lincoln University, won the event in 11.42 seconds, while Spence was third in 11.58 seconds. The athletes were competing in a positive wind of 3.3 metres per second. Spence was also third in the women's 200 metres in 23.47 seconds.

- R.G.