(Trinidad Express) Keston Bledman and Kelly-Ann Baptiste sizzled at the National Training Center (NTC) in Clermont, Florida, USA, yesterday, the Trinidad and Tobago sprint stars recording windy wins at the NTC Last Chance meet.
Bledman stopped the clock at 9.85 seconds—his fastest run ever—to top the men’s 100 metres field. The following wind, however, was 3.6 metres per second—well above the 2.0 legal limit. American sprinter Travis Padgett secured second spot in 9.88, ahead of Jamaican Ramone McKenzie (10.05).
Another T&T sprinter, Aaron Armstrong, finished fourth in 10.06 seconds.
In the preliminary round, Bledman won heat one in a wind-assisted 10.11, while Armstrong clocked 10.14 for the top spot in heat four.
Baptiste produced the fastest half-lap clocking of her career, 22.23 seconds, to emerge victorious in the women’s 200m. She was aided, though, by an illegal 3.8 metres per second following wind. Italian Libania Grenot (22.45) finished second.
T&T’s Josanne Lucas clocked 57.32 seconds to snap up silver in the women’s 400m hurdles, behind American Dominique Darden (56.90) and ahead of Jamaican Nickiesha Wilson (58.87).
Aleesha Barber finished fourth in section two and 11th overall in 13.15 seconds in the women’s 100m hurdles finals. In the preliminary round, the T&T hurdler clocked a windy 13.42.
