RAYMOND GRAHAM, Star Writer

The strength of Jamaica's track and field was again demonstrated last weekend, as while the country's junior and senior athletes were putting on a great show at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, it was the same story at another site in the United States, the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa.

Shereefa Lloyd, a member of Jamaica's women's 4x400 metres relay team, who won silver at the Berlin World Championships last year, and former Calabar hurdler Andrew Riley were among those in good form.

Lloyd captured the women's invitational 400 metres in a respectable 51.84 seconds, just edging out the United States' Angee Henry, who ended second in 51.89 seconds. Riley, the second best outdoor 110 metres hurdler among all college male athletes, was victorious for Illinois University in that event as he clocked 13.72 seconds for the win.

World outdoor 400 metres hurdle representative, Isa Phillips, started his outdoor season with a second-place finish in his pet event, clocking 49.47 seconds. Puerto Rico's Javier Culson continued where he left off last season as he won the event in a good time of 48.67 seconds.

world leading times

In other individual events there were two world leading times by United States athletes. Lashauntea Moore who clocked 11.06 seconds to win the women's invitational 100 metres, while Wallace Spearmon stopped the clock at 20.20 seconds in winning the men's 200 metres event.

The meet also saw the Victor 'Poppy' Thomas-coached Lincoln University dominating the college relays, as they had four wins and a second-place finish. In the women's 4x200 metres, the team that included former Holmwood Technical athlete Nyoka Cole and Anna-Kay Campbell, formerly of St Andrew High School, won in a time of 1:34.34.

Oklahoma Baptist, which included former Edwin Allen quarter-miler Verone Chambers, finished second in 1:39.90. The Lincoln women's 4x400 metres quartet, which included Cole, along with former St Jago High School athlete Sudian Davis and former Vere Technical athlete Keneisha Jones captured the event in 3:38.55.

The Lincoln men's team was also in good form as they had two relay victories and a second-place finish. Lincoln's 4x100 metres team, which included three Jamaicans in former Camperdown High School sprinters Dwain Bryden and Kimour Bruce, along with former G.C. Foster College Gavin Terrelonge, won the event in 40.13 seconds. The 4x400 metres winning team included both Bryden and Bruce.