KINGSTON, Jamaica — When Isa Phillips returned to his home country to compete in the Jamaican National Senior Championships held this weekend at the National Stadium, he already held the distinction as one of the world’s elite performers in the 400-meter hurdles after setting a seasonal best of 48.36 seconds to rank No. 2 in the world.
But with his performance on Saturday night, Phillips has established himself as a true gold-medal contender in the event at the 2009 IAAF World Championships set to run later this summer.
Phillips dominated his fellow countrymen and shattered his own personal best once again with an impressive run of 48.05 in Saturday’s final to overtake the reigning World Champion and Olympic bronze medalist Bershawn Jackson of the United States for the world’s lead in the event.
Jackson held the previous world-leading time at 48.32 when he captured the event title on June 17 at the Ostrava Grand Prix in the Czech Republic.
Phillips’ victory on Saturday marked the first time in his career that he has captured the Jamaican national crown in the 400-meter hurdles. Before representing his country in the Olympic Games a season ago, Phillips was a two-time All-American during his two-year collegiate career at LSU in 2006-07 while capturing the NCAA title in the event during his senior season.
With the win, Phillips has earned the right to wear the Jamaican uniform at the 2009 IAAF World Championships in Athletics as the meet will be held in Berlin, Germany, from Aug. 15-23.
Phillips was not the only former LSU athlete to qualify for the IAAF World Championships in the 400-meter hurdles as Lady Tiger great Nickiesha Wilson earned a third-place finish after clocking a time of 56.01 in the women’s final. This marks the second time that Wilson will compete for the Jamaican team in the event at the World Championships after placing fourth in the final in 2007.
LSU junior Samantha Henry also has the opportunity to compete in the World Championships as a member of Jamaica’s 4×100-meter relay pool after earning a sixth-place finish in the 100-meter final also run during Saturday’s competition at the National Stadium.
Henry crossed the finish line with a time of 11.36 in the finals while running into a stiff headwind measuring 1.5 meters per second. She qualified for the finals after clocking the fifth-fastest time of the preliminary round at 11.35 earlier in the day.
Henry is also scheduled to race in the preliminary round of the women’s 200 meters on Sunday at the Jamaican National Senior Championships at the National Stadium.