Dejanae Oakley of the University of Georgia (Instagram: dejaneaoakley)
June 15, 2025
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Dejanae Oakley of the University of Georgia ran a big personal best 49.65 seconds for second place in the women’s 400m final on Saturday’s fourth and final day of the NCAA Division 1 Outdoor track and field championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
Oakley ran under her previous best of 50.18 seconds, the mark she set in Thursday’s semi-finals. It is the fastest by a Jamaican woman so far this year and ninth best by any Jamaican woman ever.
Her time ranks her seventh best in the world and was so fast and she also moved into second place all time on the “Bulldogs’ all-time list behind the 49.26 seconds that her teammate Aaliyah Butler ran to win on Saturday.
Adrienne Adams of Auburn was also in a record-breaking mood as she threw a new lifetime best of 60.55m for sixth in the women’s discus throw final, beating her previous best mark of 57.76m set in 2023 when she was a student at the University of Central Florida.
Her mark was also the Auburn programme’s record, beating the 57.42m set by Marley Raikiwasa in 2024.
Shantae Foreman of Clemson placed fourth in the triple jump with 13.72m (1.4m/s) after finishing ninth last year, while Machaeda Linton of LSU was 19th with 12.67m (1.0m/s).
Shenese Walker of Florida State University was sixth in the 100m, running 11.23 seconds (-1.4m/s) while Gabrielle Matthews of the University of Florida was eighth in the 200m in 22.84 seconds (1.6m/s).
Meanwhile, there were some concerns after red hot favourite Habiba Harris left the track before the start of the 100m hurdles which she was expected to win.