Leford Green

Former Kingston College 400 metres runner, Leford Green, is determined to continue the country's success in the 400 metres hurdles and is looking to emulate the achievements of former national champions Winthrop Graham and Danny McFarlane, who won medals at the World and Olympic levels.

Green, who has represented the country in the 4x400 metres at the senior level, went one place better in the College 400 metres hurdles at last weekend's Penn Relays.

Competing for NCAA Division II school, Johnson C. Smith University, where he is being conditioned by his former high school coach Lennox Graham, Green captured the event in a season-best 50.00 seconds. Running very early last Saturday morning in windy and chilly conditions, Green was a bit laid-back in the early stages of the event before reaching top gear at the seventh flight to pull away from his rivals for a convincing win.

excellent runner

Leford Green

Green is the second ranked Jamaican in the event so far this season, behind veteran McFarlane, who two weeks ago clocked 49.91 seconds to win in Norman, Oklahoma. He was very happy with his success and will be concentrating on this event in a bid to make the team to the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, despite also being an excellent runner in the flat 400 metres.

"This victory means a lot for me and the future as this is the biggest relay meet in the United States. Winning and improving on last year's performance is big for me as I have matured in the event and I will be concentrating on it for the future," he said. "Over the past two years, I have improved a lot in the event and my season so far has been very progressive, and although I wanted to run 49 seconds I am satisfied with the win because the conditions were not that good," continued Green.

Green will have two major meets before he lines up in the event at the Jamaica National Championships in late June.

"I have a tune-up meet in Greensboro, North Carolina, in two weeks time before the big college national meet in California a week later," concluded a very upbeat Green.