Briana Williams Captures U20 World Best In 200 At CARIFTA

Apr 22, 2019

If there are paths that certain athletes lead, there is a sense that Briana Williams is clear on her way toward achieving the goals she's firmly set for herself in 2019.

On Sunday night in George Town, Cayman Islands, the high school junior at Oakland Park Northeast (FL) once again rushed to the finish line in dominating fashion for the Jamaican girls, scoring her second straight win in ensuing days at the CARIFTA Games in a No. 3 world time and No. 1 U20 best of 22.89 (+0.9) seconds in the girls U20 final.

That effort, No. 17 all-time in the high school record books, represented her second sub-23 second effort in as many seasons following her win at the IAAF U20 Championships last July in Finland, when Williams went 22.50 seconds.

And it followed a day of individual success at 100 meters, with Williams, 17, notching a win in 11.25 seconds the previous night among a crowd of supporters at Truman Bodden Sports Complex. Her win was among the 30 medals earned by Jamaican athletes on the first day of competition.

With one more night left of competition, Williams will once again reach for gold in the 4x100 relay, where she secured gold in 2018 as well.

But this was all some form of reassurance, as Williams, a star in the making for the Jamaican women, has been working toward claiming a spot on Jamaica's World Championship team this summer in Doha. Still a teenager, her goals are becoming more real with each passing competition.

Track and field is often measured in progression, and Williams' coach Ato Boldon -- who had the 200m final moved back to Sunday after a miscalculation on the race schedule by CARIFTA Games planners -- predicted his athlete would be on target with a sub-23 second effort on Sunday night if the wind-held.

That it did, and Williams once again proved she's been a steady read upward. Boldon revealed in March that Williams is unlikely to run another individual race in Florida as she continues to prepare for her qualification to the World Championships.

That 200m time on Sunday counted for a 0.22 second improvement from this time last year when the teenager went 23.11 seconds in the U17 final.

Her progression in the 100m and 200m distances are below.

All Wind-Legal Times

month	2019	2018	2017
March	DNR	11.27	11.66
April	11.25	11.27	DNR

All Wind-Legal Times

month	2019	2018	2017
March	23.29	23.24	24.12
April	22.89	23.11	DNR