The outdoor season is slowly getting under way and 400 metre hurdler Saj Alhaddad put out the message he will be one to be reckoned with in the 2018 season. The 25 year old took a wrecking ball to his previous life time best en route to winning the Duke Invitational Saturday in Durham, North Carolina in a time of 51.34 seconds.
Alhaddad’s performance not only took more than six tenths off his personal best, but was also the fastest time by a club member in the event since 1999, moving him to fourth on the club all-time list. He is currently ranked second in Canada.
Also south of the border, Erinn Stenman-Fahey was fifth and sixth respectively over 800 metres and 1500 metres at the Cardinal Classic in Palo Alto, California. The Iowa State junior produced the sixth fastest time of her life over 800 metres, running 2 minutes 7.27 seconds while her 1500 metre performance of 4 minutes 29.55 seconds was the third fastest in her life.
Across the pond at the London Marathon, Joshua Cassidy capped a busy week, finishing ninth in a time of 1 hour 31 minutes and 41 seconds. Competing just five days after a cold and grueling Boston Marathon performance, the two time Paralympian was in the hunt for a victory almost the entire race before falling slightly off the pace in the final two kilometres, to finish 26 seconds out of first.
Elsewhere, at the Grenada Invitational in St. Georges, Divya Biswal recorded a seasonal best mark of 12.39m to finish fifth in the triple jump. As well, Farah Jacques opened up her 2018 outdoor season at the LSU Alumni Gold meet in Baton Rouge with a 13.83 second performance in the 100 metre hurdles to move to seventh in club history.
