Jamaica’s Adrian Kerr secured his qualification for the Tokyo 2025 World Athletics Championships, clocking a personal best 20.09 seconds (+1.8 m/s) to finish second in the men’s 200m at the Ed Murphey Track Classic, a World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meet held Saturday (12 July) in Memphis, Tennessee.
Kerr, who had finished third at the Jamaica National Championships without the qualifying mark, now joins national champion Bryan Levell as the two Jamaicans currently qualified in the event. Christopher Taylor, the runner-up at Trials, remains just outside the qualifying standard of 20.16.
T’Mars McCallum drops 19.73 WL
American T’Mars McCallum won the race in a world leading 19.73, while Grenada’s Nazzio John finished fourth in 20.27, continuing a string of strong performances this season.
In the men’s 100m, Davonte Howell of the Cayman Islands edged Levell in a closely contested finish. Both were timed at 10.07, but Howell was awarded the win by two-thousandths of a second (10.067 to 10.070). Jamaica’s Ryiem Forde followed in third with 10.09, while Rikkoi Brathwaite of the British Virgin Islands placed fifth in 10.17.
Earlier in the day, Howell also produced a wind-assisted 9.93 (+2.1) in a preliminary round. T’Mars McCallum took that race in 9.87.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines’ Shafiqua Maloney posted a season’s best of 1:58.13 to win the women’s 800m. Maloney controlled the race from the bell and held off Americans Ajee’ Wilson (1:59.53) and Rachel Gearing (1:59.70). It was her first sub-two-minute performance of the season and another step toward Tokyo.
In the men’s 800m, Jamaica’s Tyrice Taylor placed second in 1:46.46 behind Canada’s Abdullahi Hassan, who won in 1:46.16.
Britton Wilson returns with big win
Jamaican athletes were also active in the one-lap events. In the women’s 400m, Leah Anderson finished second in 50.90, behind American Britton Wilson, who won in 50.54. Joanne Reid of Jamaica returned 52.95 for sixth place in a competitive final.
Antonio Watson, the 2023 world champion, ran in the men’s 400m pre-program race. He placed second in 45.24 behind Zimbabwe’s Takudzwa Chiyangwa, who clocked 45.19. In the main program, Delano Kennedy of Jamaica finished third in 45.00, while Americans Quincy Wilson (44.10) and Bryce Deadmon (44.39) secured the top two spots. Olympic champion Steven Gardiner of The Bahamas did not finish.
Barbados was well represented in the hurdles. Tia-Adana Belle won the women’s 400m hurdles in 54.67, leading from the early stages to beat Australia’s Alanah Yukich (55.04). Jamaica’s Sanique Walker ran 55.30 for fourth.
In the pre-program men’s 400m hurdles, Barbados’ Rasheeme Griffith clocked 49.45 for the win. American-based Gabriel Singh and Jevon Williams rounded out the top three.
In sprint hurdles action, Yanique Thompson of Jamaica competed in both rounds of the women’s 100m hurdles. She placed fourth in the final with 12.65 (+2.1), and earlier ran 12.81 (+1.9) for sixth in the prelim. Alaysha Johnson of the United States won both rounds, including a 12.27 performance in the final.
Rasheem Brown of the Cayman Islands recorded 13.39 (+3.3) in the men’s 110m hurdles to finish fourth in a race dominated by American athletes.
Caribbean representation in the women’s 200m came in the pre-program round. The Bahamas’ Collinique Farrington and Trinidad and Tobago’s Leah Bertrand finished third and fourth with times of 22.66 and 22.68 respectively. Guinea’s Fatouma Conde won that race in 22.54 (+2.2). No Caribbean athletes were featured in the main 200m final, which was won by McKenzie Long of the U.S. in 21.93.
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