by Carlena Knight
Joella Lloyd, the 100m female national recorder holder has now added another accolade to her ever-growing list.
Lloyd, who is a sophomore at the University of Tennessee, is now the national 200m record holder as well.
Running a time of 23.09seconds earlier this month, the sprinter shattered the old record of 23.20secs set by former sprinter and the current Director of Sports Heather Samuel-Daley in 1993.
Lloyd spoke with this newsroom about the achievement.
“I’m really proud of this accomplishment in setting the new national record for the 200m because one of my goals this season has been to improve my time and I was able to shave off 0.23seconds and get a new personal record of 23.09,” Lloyd said.
She mentioned that the focus is now to continue improving throughout the year.
“For the rest of the season, I just hope to improve and stay healthy as I go into, hopefully, Nationals in June and then Commonwealth and Worlds at the end of the year,” she added.
The Antigua Girls High School alumnus could not however build on that historic run as she was edged out this weekend at the SEC Championships Oxford, Mississippi, in the Women’s 100 dash for a medal.
Lloyd finished 4th in the race in a time of 11.31 seconds, a new season’s best.
LSU’s Favour Ofili came first in a time of 10.93 while Kentucky’s Abby Steiner (11.02) and Arkansas’s Jayda Baylark (11.24) finished second and third respectively.
Meanwhile, in the 200m Women Dash, Lloyd settled for a fifth-place finish with a time of 23.20secs.
Favour Ofili claimed the double by winning in a time of 22.04secs.
Steiner (22.07) was second once again while Florida’s Talitha Diggs (22.64) was third.