Boldon wins100m at Modesto

MODESTO, California: Ato Boldon of Trinidad and Tobago and Kittitian Kim Collins swept both men’s sprint events at the 62nd Modesto Relays on Saturday.

Quadruple Olympic medallist Boldon, whose early season programme was stalled by a thigh strain, outran his HSI teammate Jon Drummond (10.17) and Britain’s European champion Dwain Chambers (10.19) to land the 100 metres. Collins, currently the Caribbean’s number one sprinter in the world ratings, sped to a 20.40 victory in the 200 metres after Boldon topped his 100-metres field in 10.15 seconds. Highlight of the meet was a world-leading high jump win for American Matt Hemmingway, whose triumph at 2.34 metres, bettered the previous 2003 world best by Jamaican Germaine Mason at the Brazil Grand Prix last weekend. Collins, a 200-metre bronze medallist at the 2001 Edmonton World Championship, won the half-lap sprint ahead of Bahamian Dominic Demeritte (20.78) with Jamaican Elston Cawley fifth in 21.10. Jamaican Ricardo Williams captured Section One of the men’s 200 metres in 20.69 seconds, and his team-mate Llewellyn Bredwood (10.34) was third in the men’s 100 Section One, won by American Greg Saddler (10.26).

American Inger Miller, daughter of former Jamaica Olympic sprint medallist Lennox Miller, landed the women’s sprint double. She won the 100 in 11.16 seconds over Angela Williams (11.32) in an American one-two finish, with Jamaican Peta-Gay Dowdie (11.50) fourth and Kerron Stewart, last month’s CARIFTA champion for Jamaica, fifth in 11.53. In the 200, Miller (23.19) dismissed Crystal Cox (23.38) with Dowdie (23.66) third.  Hemmingway was already the high jump winner with a first-jump 2.28, and instructed that the bar go to a personal best 2.34, at which success came on his third trial. After two failures at 2.37, he took one try at a would-be US record 2.41 before closing out the afternoon. Caribbean runners snatched the top two spots in the women’s 400 metres as Bahamian Tonique Williams (52.77) led Jamaican Sheryl Morgan (54.26) home, while Jamaicans were prominent in the 800 metres with Michelle Ballentine (2:02.30) and Sasha Spencer (2:02.84) closest to Tanya Blake’s winning 2:01.96.