By Gary Smith, Contributor
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jermaine Hamilton leads the seven sprinters who came through the qualifying round of the men’s 100m at the Jamaica Championships on Thursday morning.
The qualifying round is used to eliminate the lower seeds at the trials and save the top runners from running in an extra race that they would have cruised through anyways.
Hamilton top the list of qualifiers with a time of 10.56 seconds after he won the second heat, running in a -1.9 m/s headwind.
The Sprintec representative got home ahead of Ajamu Graham from UTECH who posted 10.62, while another UTECH sprinter, Samuel Tomlinson came home in 10.79.
Ramone Barnswell from the MVP Track Club clocked 10.75 seconds to win heat 1 in a very strong -4.2 m/s headwind. He paced home Akan Track Club’s Keniel Lee.
Also booking a place in tonight’s quarter-final heats are Brandon Tomlinson and Collin King.
The men’s 100m quarter-final heats will be drawn up by the organizers and announced later this afternoon before the action gets going at the National Stadium, in Kingston, at 6:55 p.m.
There will be no Usain Bolt though after the world record holder pulled out of the trials Thursday morning.
Usain Bolt Pulls Out of Jamaica Championships
However, the likes of Julian Forte, Asafa Powell, Andrew Fisher, Yohan Blake, Nesta Carter, Nickel Ashmeade and Kemar Bailey-Cole will all be in action.
Powell, who is the second fastest men’s 100m runner this season behind American Justin Gatlin, who has the world’s two fastest times in 2015, comes as the favourite to win his sixth national championships 100m title.
The 32-year-old has already produced 9.84 seconds this season and is the only Jamaican under 10-seconds for the summer thus far.
Jamaica Championships 100m Qualifying Round Top Results
1 Hamilton, Jermaine Sprintec 10.56q -1.9 2
2 Graham, Ajamu UTECH 10.62q -1.9 2
3 Barnswell, Ramone Mvp Track Club 10.75q -4.2 1
4 Tomlinson, Samuel UTECH 10.79q -1.9 2
5 Lee, Keniel Akan Track Club 10.80q -4.2 1
6 Tomlinson, Brandon G.C.Foster College 10.80q -2.5 3
7 King, Collin G.C.Foster College 10.89q -3.5
