Jamaican sprint hurdler Danielle Williams won the women’s 60m hurdles at the Clemson Tiger Paw Invitational on Friday after clocking 7.87 seconds. The time was just 0.01 shy of her lifetime best in the event.
Williams, the 2015 world champion, posted a comfortable 8.04 seconds to top the qualifiers in the preliminary round when winning her heat earlier in the day before running away from the field in the final.
Her winning time on Friday was a seasonal best and it’s also the third fastest in the world this year behind Americans Christina Clemons’ 7.83 and Tonea Marshall’s 7.86.
Williams’ time, which was a tad slower than her 7.86 personal best, which was set in Feb. last year – improved the 7.97 seconds she clocked on Jan. 29 at the same venue before she was disqualified in the final.
The 28-year-old who won bronze at the 2019 world championships in Doha, Qatar, was a comfortable winner over Kentucky’s Masai Russell, who recorded 8.09 seconds, with third going to Tiana McMinn of the University of Miami in 8.13.
Another Jamaican, Clemson’s Trishauna Hemmings, clocked 8.15 for fourth in the final.
Meanwhile, North Carolina A&T senior Tavarius Wright continued his impressive form this season by dominating the men’s 60m dash field with a 6.57-second performance.
The women’s race went to Antigua and Barbuda sprinter and Tennessee sophomore Joella Lloyd, who posted a season-best of 7.20 to edge Kentucky’s Abby Steiner, who ran a personal best of 7.21 for second place. Grenada’s Halle Hazzard, a senior at Virginia, was third in a seasonal best of 7.26.
