Caribbean sprint stars blanked

American Marshevet Hooker, representing Texas, logged a splendid win in 11.16 seconds, while Baptiste clocked 11.37 seconds as she finished one position outside the medal frame on the penultimate day of the four-day meet at Sacramento State University.

The British Virgin Islands’ Tahesia Harrigan got fifth in 11.41 seconds, and Trinidad and Tobago’s number one Fana Ashby could only manage seventh in 11.51 seconds.

The only gold medal success Caribbean athletes tasted came from the sprint relays where Jamaicans Omar Brown and Melaine Walker helped their teams to smashing victories.

Enjoying a good meet, Hooker, who had already finished second in the long jump and anchored the 4x100 relay team for Texas, won the 100 metres by 0.13 seconds over Tennessee’s Cleo Tyson (11.29). USC’s Alexis Weatherspoon was third in 11.35.

The Texas relay triumph, with former CARIFTA champion Walker on the second leg, was clocked at 42.87 seconds, the third-fastest time in school history. They finished in front of South Carolina (43.00) and Tennessee (43.18). The six-foot-three-inch tall Brown, who won CARIFTA double sprint gold in 2000, finished a smart victory for Arkansas in the men’s sprint relay in a school record 38.49 seconds.