Hurdles is all about finding your rhythm and Sekou Kaba appears to be finding his early this season. The Francophone Games champion dropped seven hundredths of his lifetime best in the 110m event, running 13.61 seconds to win his heat and finish ninth overall at the Florida Relays on Friday afternoon. In winning his heat, Kaba bested the likes of Asian Games medalist Kim Byoung Jun of South Korea, who was second in 13.63 and former NCAA champion and multiple All-American Jarret Eaton of the United States. Of the race, Kaba said, “I got out pretty well. Floated over [hurdles] 3 and 4. The rest was clean and blurry.”
Also competing Gainesville, Farah Jacques opened up her season with the 100m/400m double, running 11.67 and 55.29 seconds respectively. Jacques time in the 100m was the best opener of her life, running just a tenth off her personal best. In the women’s sprint hurdles, Karelle Edwards ran 13.66 to finish 23rd overall.
Also on the east coast, in Rochester, New York, All-American horizontal jumper Divya Biswal opened up her season in fine fashion by winning the long jump with a best leap of 5.39m. In the 100m hurdles, Biswal was third overall with a time of 15.46 seconds.
Out west at the Mondo Mid Major Challenge in Sacramento California, Matt Bedard improved his seasonal best in the 400m hurdles to 55.02 before helping his North Dakota State University teammates to a 3:14.47 clocking in the 4x400m relay.
