Jenna Prandini wins the 100m at Mt. SAC (© Kirby Lee)
World-leading performances by Johnathan Cabral in the 110m hurdles and Jenna Prandini in the 100m were among the chief highlights at the 58th Mt SAC Relays on Saturday (16).
Canadian Cabral, a semi-finalist at last year's World Championships, won his specialty in 13.35 to knock 0.02 from his career best. Mikel Thomas of Trinidad and Tobago was second in 13.40.
Prandini, last year's NCAA champion in the 100m and long jump, clocked 10.95 in her impressive season's debut, finishing just ahead of Hannah Cunliffe who clocked 10.99 to take more than half a second off her PB. It was Prandini's second career sub-11 performance, just shy of her 10.92 PB from last year.
Ameer Webb of the US was also off to a fast start. The 25-year-old former NCAA 200m champion produced a solid victory in the 100m, handily defeating world 100m bronze medallist Andre De Grasse clocking a wind-assisted 9.90 (2.4m/s) to the Canadian's 10.04.
He then came back to dominate the 200m with a wind-legal 19.91 (1.0m/s), the first sub-20 in his career. BeeJay Lee of the US was a distant second in 20.23.
Vashti Cunningham won her professional debut, topping 1.93m in her first competition since winning the world indoor title in Portland last month. The 18-year-old Cunningham reportedly had one close attempt at 1.98m.
“I haven’t jumped outdoors for a while, so I’m happy to be back,” Cunningham told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “My goal was 6-6 (1.98m). I skipped 6-5 (1.95m) because I was feeling really good, but I needed more to reach 6-6 today. I just couldn’t get it. I just wasn’t running fast enough.”
Meanwhile, Rodney Brown produced the best performance on the infield, winning the discus with a 66.00m heave. His effort added nearly a metre to the 22-year-old's personal best of 65.04m set last year.
Combined events star Ashton Eaton had a busy and productive Sunday afternoon, first winning the long jump with a wind-assisted 8.09m (2.2m/s) leap ahead of Japan's Shontaro Shiroyama, who reached 7.95m. He took to the track about an hour later and clocked 13.48 in the 110m hurdles, finishing fourth behind Cabral's world lead.
Elsewhere, Briton Cindy Ofili, European sprint hurdles champion Tiffany Porter's younger sister, won the 100m hurdles in 12.66 (2.0m/s), well ahead of Janay DeLoach, who clocked 12.90.
Duane Solomon beat a solid field in the 800m, clocking 1:45.47.
And in the men's triple jump, Alberto Alvarez took the victory with a Mexican record of 16.99m.
The highlight on Friday's busy high school, junior, collegiate and open programme was Saudi Arabian Abdullah Abkar Mohammed's 10.04 victory in the 100m, a national record and Asian junior record. The 19-year-old then doubled back to win an open section of the 200m in 20.29, albeit with an assisting wind of 2.7m/s.
Renovation and an over-haul of the meeting's long-time home, Hilmer Lodge Stadium in Walnut, California, moved the three-day meeting to nearby Cerritos College in Norwalk, which will also host the competition in 2017.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
