June 23, 2013

WATERFORD, ST. MICHAEL, Barbados – Gamecock Kierre Beckles won the 100-meter hurdle Barbados national championship over the weekend at the Barbados Track and Field National Championships. The competition was sponsored by The Athletics Association of Barbados and conducted at the National Stadium.

In the prelims, Beckles clocked in at 13.32 to set a new meet record. In the finals later in the day, the Gamecock posted at 13.34 to take the championship.

The Pinelands native is the Barbados national record holder at 13.01, which she ran in 2011 on the way to a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The finish is a program-best in the event.

Beckles hit a season-best 13.09 at the Raleigh Relays earlier this season and finished 12th at the 2013 NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene earlier this month after winning her second-career SEC Outdoor silver medal.

The championship is the second of the weekend for South Carolina as former Gamecock Natasha Hastings won her first national title in the 400-meter dash at the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships yesterday.