BATON ROUGE — Former LSU All-American hurdlers Isa Phillips and Nickiesha Wilson continued their march toward this summer’s IAAF World Championships in Athletics with a pair of easy wins in the 400-meter hurdles in overseas meets this past weekend.
The duo is set to represent Jamaica at the World Championships, which are set to run at Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Germany, from Aug. 15-23.
Phillips, who set a new personal best of 48.05 seconds to win his first ever Jamaican national title at the Jamaican National Senior Championships in Kingston nearly two weeks ago, blew away an outstanding field at the Madrid Grand Prix in Spain on Saturday to win the event with yet another blazing time of 48.09. He currently ranks No. 2 in the world with his seasonal best of 48.05.
Phillips beat fellow countryman Danny McFarlane (48.53) to the finish as he continues to show a form that makes him a gold-medal contender in the 400 hurdles at the World Championships.
American Bershawn Jackson is the reigning World Champion in the event and is the only hurdler to run faster than Phillips this season as he set the world-leading time of 48.03 in winning the title at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore., on June 28.
Wilson followed Phillips’ performance Saturday with a win of her own in the 400 hurdles Sunday at the Central American and Caribbean Championships held in Havana, Cuba.
Wilson, who just missed winning a medal with a fourth-place finish at the World Championships in 2007, clocked a time of 56.95 in Sunday’s final to crush Cuba’s Yadisleidis Pedroso (57.73) by nearly one second for this year’s CAC Championships title. Wilson currently ranks No. 10 in the world this outdoor season with a seasonal best time of 55.20.