GAINESVILLE, Fla. (April 15) — Britton Wilson of Arkansas broke the women’s collegiate record in the 400m dash on Saturday at the 2023 Tom Jones Memorial Invitational held at the Percy Beard Track. She ran an impressive time of 49.51 seconds, beating the previous all-time best of 49.57 set by Texas A&M star Athing Mu in 2021 to set a new world-leading time. Wilson, who is now No. 7 on the US all-time list, also set a world-leading time of 53.23 seconds on Friday’s opening day of competition in the 400m hurdles.
Rhasidat Adeleke of Texas finished second in the heat and posted a new lifetime best and Irish national record with her time of 49.90 seconds. Arkansas’ Rosey Effiong came in third overall with a time of 50.93 seconds, followed by Texas’ Lanae Thomas (51.22) and Kennedy Simon (51.31). Latasha Smith of UCF clocked a time of 51.47 seconds to finish sixth overall in heat three. – Read More: Britton Wilson runs 53.23 world lead, wins 400m hurdles at Tom Jones Memorial Invitational Meet
In the women’s Olympic Development 400m title, Stacey Ann Williams of Jamaica and Elite Performance took the top spot with an impressive time of 50.12 seconds. Aliyah Abrams of Guyana finished second with 50.77, followed by American Brittany Brown (51.15) and Jamaica’s Junelle Bromfield (51.85).
On the men’s side, Emmanuel Bynum of Tennessee won the collegiate section of the men’s 400m with a time of 44.67 seconds. Evan Miller of South Carolina (45.14), Khaleb McRae of Alabama (45.21), and Reheem Hayles of North Carolina A&T (45.49) also clocked impressive times.
Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago won the men’s Olympic Development 400m title, setting a new personal best time of 44.68 seconds, improving on his previous PR of 44.71. Alonzo Russell of the Bahamas finished second with a personal best of 44.73, bettering the 44.93 performance at the Miramar Invitational last week, while USA’s Noah Williams followed home in third place with a time of 45.22.
Trevor Bassit, the American world 400m hurdler bronze medalist, ran a lifetime best of 45.25 for fourth place, followed by Trevor Stewart (45.28), Quincy Hall (45.30), and Jamaica’s Akeem Bloomfield (45.52).
