Nugent wins 100m hurdles, Whittaker third in 400m at Prefontaine Classic

EUGENE – During the 50th staging of the Prefontaine Classic on Saturday, Arkansas alum Ackera Nugent won the 100m hurdles in 12.32 seconds while Razorback Isabella Whittaker finished third in the 400m.

Alums Shafiqua Maloney and Nikki Hiltz both placed fifth, respectively, in the 800m and 1,500m.

After a strong start, Nugent powered to the finish line to defeat a very talented hurdle field. Her 12.32, with a 0.4 wind, held off a 12.38 by Nigerian Tobi Amusan as well as a pair of 12.50s from Americans Kendra Harrison and Masai Russell. Fellow Jamaican Danielle Williams placed fifth in 12.51.

Nugent, who holds the Jamaican national record with a 12.24, generated her seventh mark among the Jamaican all-time top 10 performance list.

A time of 50.81 placed Whittaker third in the 400m as Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone won the race in 49.43 seconds over Georgia’s Aaliyah Butler, the runner-up in 49.85. Razorback Rosey Effiong, racing in lane 2, placed sixth in 51.62.

The women’s 1,500m was the last race of the Prefontaine Classic and Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon delivered a world record performance with a winning time of 3:48.68 to break her previous mark of 3:49.04 from 2024.

Hiltz produced a time of 3:55.96 in placing fifth ahead of American Sinclaire Johnson (3:56.93). Hiltz, who has a career best of 3:55.33, registered the No. 4 performance on the U.S. all-time list. It’s the fourth performance by Hiltz among the top 10 performances all-time.

Racing among a very talented 800m field, Arkansas alum Shafiqua Maloney finished fifth in a time of 1:58.49 to edge ahead of Raevyn Rogers, who had the same time. Tsige Duguma of Ethiopia won in 1:57.10 as the top three finishers were sub 1:58.