Julien Alfred in the 200m at the NCAA Indoor Championships (© Kirby Lee)
Saint Lucia’s double world finalist Julien Alfred got her season off to a strong start by running 22.28 to win the 200m at the Dr. Martin Luther King Collegiate Invitational in Albuquerque on Saturday (20).
The 22-year-old, who sits second on the world short track all-time list with the 22.01 she ran to win last year’s NCAA title, held off her training partner Rhasidat Adeleke who clocked 22.49. That was a second Irish record of the day for Adeleke, who had earlier improved her own 60m mark to 7.15 when winning the invitational race. She now sits second on the season top list behind Aleia Hobbs with 7.11.
Alfred, who is also the second-fastest woman of all-time over 60m, will race that shorter sprint at the Millrose Games – a World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting – in New York, where her competition will include Britain’s 2019 world 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith.
Asher-Smith was also in action in Albuquerque on Saturday and she won the 300m in a national best of 36.77.
Her compatriot Yusuf Bizimana, the NCAA champion, won the men’s 800m in 1:46.47, while Kenya’s Amon Kemboi won the mile in 3:58.30.
Over at the Hokie Invitational in Virginia on Friday, Tinoda Matsatsa improved Bizimana’s week-old US collegiate 1000m record by 0.05, clocking 2:18.05.
Also on Friday at the Corky Classic in Lubbock, Temitope Adeshina cleared a Nigerian record of 1.96m to win the high jump.
In Saturday's competition in Lubbock, world indoor 60m hurdles silver medallist Devynne Charlton followed up her 7.88 performance from last weekend with a PB of 7.75 to win the invitational race, improving her previous Bahamian record by 0.06.
Müller leaps 6.81m in Dortmund
Germany’s Laura Raquel Müller was among the winners at the Sparkassen Indoor Meeting, a World Athletics Indoor Tour Bronze meeting, in Dortmund on Saturday (20).
The 19-year-old added 30cm to her PB by leaping 6.81m to win ahead of her compatriots Mikaelle Assani (6.72m) and Olympic champion Malaika Mihambo (6.65m). Splitting them to finish in third place was Servia’s Milica Gardasevic with a leap of 6.69m.
Kuwait’s Yaqoub Al-Youha set a meeting record of 7.58 to win the 60m hurdles ahead of Job Geerds of the Netherlands in a 7.63 PB.
Britain’s Georgia Bell also got a meeting record in winning the 1500m in 4:03.54, while Magdalena Stefanowicz of Poland won a close 60m, clocking a PB of 7.22 to pip Alexandra Burghardt of Germany, who recorded the same time.
