Paola Bueno’s Mexico hammer title headlines international competition

Liberty University’s Paola Bueno captured her fourth consecutive Mexico women’s hammer title, headlining a week where current and former Flames and Lady Flames competed in five different Olympic Trials/national championship events.

Mexico
Three weeks after wrapping up her sophomore season with an 11th-place finish in the NCAA Division I women’s hammer final, Bueno was dominant in Mexico City. She recorded the four longest throws of the competition, including a mark of 199 feet and 7 inches in round two which outdistanced the runner-up by nine feet.

Only 21 years of age, the native of Nayarit has now claimed four straight Mexico women’s hammer championships (2021-24).

Bahamas
Redshirt junior Indea Cartwright got the Flames’ week started by placing fourth in the Bahamas women’s 100 hurdles final, Thursday in Nassau. She clocked a time of 13.13 seconds into a 0.2 m/s headwind, marking the fastest wind-legal effort in program history.

Cartwright just missed her program record of 13.11, a wind-aided performance achieved in this year’s CUSA 100 hurdles final.

Trinidad and Tobago
For the third year in a row, Liberty sophomore Omari Lewis and freshman Revell Webster each qualified for the Trinidad and Tobago men’s 100 final, Saturday in Port of Spain.

As he did in 2023, Webster defeated Lewis in the final. Webster clocked 10.39 for fourth place, while Lewis was sixth in 10.68.

Lewis aggravated an injury during the race, ending his incredible season which featured CUSA titles in the indoor 60 (school-record 6.67) and outdoor 100 (school-record 9.88).

Colombia
Two-time All-American Alejandro Perlaza Zapata (Class of 2019) won one of his two events in Cali. He led off for his team’s victorious mixed 4 x 400 relay quartet on Friday, posting a winning time of 3:22.77.

One day later, Perlaza Zapata raced to a fifth-place finish in the Colombia men’s 400 final, crossing the finish line in 47.47.

Canada
Bidding to reach the Canada men’s 100 dash final for the second year in a row on Friday in Montreal, 2022 graduate Brandon Letts fell just short.

Letts notched a wind-legal 10.34 performance for third place in his semifinal heat and ninth overall. He just missed the 10.30 time it took to advance to the final.