Dwight St Hillaire jumped from 13th to third on the all-time Trinidad and Tobago indoor men’s 400 metres list with a fast 45.64-second run at the Tiger Paw Invite in South Carolina, USA, last Friday.

St Hillaire finished first in his section and fourth overall in a large field of 43 quarter-milers. Americans Ran_dolph Ross, Jacory Patterson and Trevor Stewart were first, second and third, respectively, clocking 45.21, 45.24 and 45.55.

Thanks to his 45.64 clocking, St Hillaire is 14th on the 2021 world list. Ross is second, behind fellow American Fred Kerley, the world leader at 45.03. Patterson and Stewart are fourth and 11th, respectively.

St Hillaire, 90th on the all-time world list, is one of only three T&T athletes in the top 100. National record holder Deon Lendore is 11th at 45.03 while Lalonde Gordon is 20th with a 45.17 clocking. American Michael Norman is the world record holder at 44.52.

St Hillaire’s 45.64 run earned him the University of Kentucky’s indoor record, bettering a standard that had stood for 25 years. The Kentucky senior is also the school’s outdoor record holder at 44.55.

St Hillaire was fourth fastest in the Tiger Paw Invite men’s 60m prelimina_ries in 6.79 seconds. He did not run in the championship race.

At the Track and Field Coalition of United States of America (TFCUSA) Indoor National Championships in Alabama, Taejha Badal struck gold in the girls’ 17-18 60m and 400m events. Badal clocked a personal best 7.52 seconds in the 60 and an indoor best 55.68 in the 400. The clockings were also new meet records.

Jabari Fox picked up silver in the Iowa State Classic men’s 200m event, the University of Northern Iowa freshman getting home in 22.02 seconds on the oversized track. Northern Iowa sophomore Onal Mitchell was seventh fastest in the men’s 400m in 49.28.

At the Hawkeye Big Ten Invitational, also in Iowa, Kion Benjamin bagged men’s 60m bronze in 6.80 seconds. The University of Minnesota sophomore had clocked 6.77 in the qualifying round.

University of Illinois quarter-miler Kashief King got home in 49.52 seconds to finish first in section one and fourth overall in the men’s 400m. Minnesota sprinter Akilah Lewis was sixth fastest in the women’s 60m preliminaries in 7.58. She opted out of the final.

Ianna Roach finished tenth in the women’s shot put with a 14.04-metre throwÑa new indoor best for the University of Iowa sophomore. In the weight throw, Roach was 11th with a personal best 17.22m effort.

Tatianna Martinez was tenth fastest in the Texas Tech Shootout women’s 200m event, the Texas Christian University (TCU) sophomore getting home in a personal best 24.48 seconds. Martinez clocked 56.07 for 14th spot overall in the 400.

At the H-Town SpeedCity Series meet, also in Texas, University of South Florida sprinter Kadesha Prescott finished third in section three and 12th overall in the women’s 60m preliminaries in 7.78 seconds. The top eight progressed to the final.