Makusha’s nightmare

heavy rains stopped him from claiming victory in the men’s long jump during the second day of the NCAA Championships at Des Moines in Iowa, United States.
According to reports from Des Moines, a series of late thunderstorms brought Thursday’s session of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships to a halt. That left Florida State long jumper Makusha in limbo – even though he set a Drake Stadium record of 8.40 metres.
Makusha was among dozens of athletes who took shelter when lightning struck around 8:15pm. He could not claim a victory because four other jumpers still had to take their final attempt. The four-day meet, which started on Wednesday and will end today, was set to resume yesterday.
Makusha had earlier continued with his winning ways in the United States on Wednesday when he qualified for the men’s 100m finals during the first day of the NCAA Championships. On Wednesday, the Florida State University duo of Makusha and Maurice Mitchell finished 1-2 in the 100-metre dash on Day One of the four-day 2011 National Collegiate Athletics Association Championship on Wednesday.
Mitchell kicked off the race with a top time of 10.16 seconds in the first heat to qualify. Makusha did the same by winning the third heat with a 10.13.
The two speedsters produced their times despite a -1.1 and -1.0 headwind, respectively. The finals for the event will be raced today. Florida’s Jeff Demps – the favourite in the race – failed to qualify with a 10.40, boosting the ‘Noles chances for a championship moving forward. FSU started strong on Wednesday in the team’s first event of the day when the women’s 4x100m relay placed seventh with a final-day qualifying time of 43.65.
The team featured Amy Harris, Marecia Pemberton, Stephanie Simpson and Britany St. Louis. Like the women, the men’s 4x100m relay squad moved on to today’s final.
Kemar Hyman, Makusha, Mitchell and Brandon Byram ran a season-best 38.75 to finish fourth.