Bahamas’s Demetrius Pinder ran a lifetime best of 44.93 secs in the 400m at the NCAA West Regional in Austin, Texas over the weekend to punch his ticket to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon June 9 to 12. The aspiring actor and Texas A&M junior improved on his previous personal record of 45.89 and has positioned him to be one of the favorites in Eugene. Pinder’s teammate Tabarie Henry (US Virgin Island) also qualified for Eugene with a 45.30 performance.

The Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) duo of Latoy Williams (45.49) of Texas Tech and Baylor University’s Zwede Hewitt (45.70) are also in the running for the 400m crown.

Other qualifiers for Eugene includes University of Texas freshman Keiron Stewart (13.39) of Jamaica in the 110m hurdles. In addition, three Jamaican will compete for the long jump title. They are the University of Nebraska’s Nicholas Gordon (7.92m / 26’-00), University of Arkansas’s Tarik Batchelor (7.77m / 25’-06”) and Texas A&M’s Julian Reid (7.48m / 24’-06”).

On the women’s side, University of Texas’s Chantel Malone of the British Virgin Island booked her ticket to Eugene  by leaping 6.56m / 21’-06¼”)  in the long jump.