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Jamaican Jaydon Hibbert, a freshman at the University of Arkansas, has received the highest collegiate athletic award in the United States. He is the youngest recipient of the award and the first Jamaican winner. The Bowerman was established in 2009 and is presented annually to the year’s best student-athlete. It is named for Oregon track and field and cross-country coach, Bill Bowerman and administered by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Winners of the Bowerman Award were announced on December 14, 2023, during a ceremony held at the organization’s yearly convention.

Hibbert’s Award-Winning Season

Hibbert’s achievements in 2023 provided ample reason for the award. He was undefeated during the college season in the triple jump, gaining the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) titles and breaking long-standing collegiate and world U20 records. He finished the year as a world leader in the sport. Hibbert is the first Arkansas Razorback freshman to win the men’s award. He is the third freshman overall to be presented with the Bowerman, and as an international athlete, joins four other winners of the award. He is the first to win since 2014. Hibbert is also the third Bowerman Award finalist in the men’s program guided by Arkansas head coach, Chris Bucknam, and associate head coach, Travis Geopfert.

Hibbert’s Record

Jaydon Hibbert’s medal record representing Jamaica is impressive. At the World U20 Championships in 2022, he received a gold medal for the triple jump in Cali and a silver medal in the event at the 2021 Nairobi tournament. At the U20 CARIFTA Games in 2022, he won first place in the long jump and the triple jump in Kingston, and he took first place in the triple jump in 2023 in Nassau. At the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC) U18 Championships in 2021, he won first place in the triple jump and a silver in the long jump. His personal bests include 7.87 meters in the long jump in 2022, 17.87 meters in the triple jump in 2023, 17.27 meters in the U18 triple jump in 2022, and 17.54 meters in the triple jump indoor in 2023.

About Jaydon Hibbert

Jaydon Hibbert was born in January 2005 in Kingston, Jamaica. He attended Kingston College and after graduating in 2022 enrolled at the University of Arkansas. There, he joined fellow Jamaicans Wayne Pinnock and Carey McLeod competing for the Arkansas Razorbacks on its track and field team. He made his international debut when he was 16 at the NACAC Under-18 Championships in Athletics in San Jose, Costa Rica, winning the triple jump and coming in second in the long jump. In March 2023, he set the world U20 triple jump record with a jump of 17.54 meters at the NCAA Division 1 Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He surpassed the outdoor distance of 17.50 meters that had been set 38 years before, as well as the 1986 collegiate indoor record. He was ranked 13th on the world all-time list in May 2023, and in July 2023, signed an Image and Likeness (NIL) deal with Puma.

Photo – Nick Ford

The post Jamaica’s Jaydon Hibbert Becomes First Jamaican to Win US Collegiate Award appeared first on Jamaicans.com.

In February and March 2024, the Grammy award-winning brothers Damian “Jr Gong” Marley and Stephen “Ragga” Marley will launch their exclusive Traffic Jam Tour across North America. 

The Marley Brothers First Co-Headlining Tour

This marks the inaugural occasion in history when the brothers have jointly presented a curated set, offering a unique showcase to their fans. The 18-date tour begins February 16 and features 15 dates produced by Live Nation, with stops including Las Vegas, NV; Seattle, WA; Vancouver, BC; Boston, MA; Brooklyn, NY; Toronto, ON; and more before concluding at Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, IL, on March 30. Additionally, three festival dates complete the outing including CaliVibes Fest, Lake Tahoe Reggae Festival, and Reggae Rise Up Florida.

The seamless performance will feature a special curated set list of both brothers’ catalogs and a medley of their father Bob Marley’s classics.  Damian and Stephen Marley have written and performed a multitude of singles together over the last two decades – including the most recent collaboration, “Cast The First Stone” from Stephen Marley’s new LP Old Soul. The brothers wrote/produced/performed on the anthemic Grammy-winning reggae classic “Welcome To Jamrock,” in addition to timeless compositions like “Medication,” “Grown & Sexy,” “All Night,” “It Was Written,” and, of course, “Traffic Jam.” 

Tickets

Tickets will be available starting with various presales beginning Thursday, December 14. Additional presales will run throughout the week ahead of the general on-sale starting Friday, December 15 at 10 AM local time at LiveNation.com 

DAMIAN + STEPHEN MARLEY: TRAFFIC JAM TOUR DATES

Fri, Feb 16: Long Beach, CA – Cali Vibes Fest*

Sat, Feb 17: Stateline, NV – Lake Tahoe Reggae Festival*

Sun, Feb 18: Las Vegas, NV – House of Blues Las Vegas

Wed, Feb 21: San Francisco, CA – The Masonic

Thu, Feb 22: Wheatland, CA – Hard Rock Live Sacramento

Sat, Feb 24: Boise, ID – Revolution Concert House & Event Center

Sun, Feb 25: Seattle, WA – Paramount Theatre

Mon, Feb 26: Portland, OR – Roseland Theater

Tue, Feb 27: Vancouver, BC – Queen Elizabeth Theatre

Sun, Mar 17: St Petersburg, FL – Reggae Rise Up Florida*

Tue, Mar 19: Philadelphia, PA – The Fillmore Philadelphia

Wed, Mar 20: Washington D.C. – The Fillmore Silver Spring

Sat, Mar 23: Boston, MA – Citizens House of Blues Boston

Mon, Mar 25: Toronto, ON – HISTORY

Tue, Mar 26: Montreal, QC – MTELUS

Wed, Mar 27: Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Paramount

Fri, Mar 29: Detroit, MI – The Fillmore Detroit

Sat, Mar 30: Chicago, IL – Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom

*Festival Performance

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The book ONE LOVE by Koko Kalango, was launched on Thursday, 17 December 2020 to a virtual audience that included Africa’s first Nobel Laureate for Literature, Professor Wole Soyinka, the Jamaican High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ambassador Esmon Reid and 150 other guests from Nigeria, Jamaica, the US and the UK. 

Exploring Jamaican Contributions to Nigeria’s Development

Speaking at the launch, Soyinka said the book was an important contribution to the literature of the African diaspora. On that occasion, ONE LOVE, which delves into the contributions of Jamaicans to Nigeria’s development, was reviewed by novelist and historian Chibundu Onuzo. This coffee table book features fifty stories of Jamaicans, highlighting their life and work in Nigeria. 

Published this year to coincide with 50 years of diplomatic relations between Nigeria and Jamaica, ONE LOVE begins with the profile of Andrew Chisholm and Edward Miller, the first set of Jamaicans who arrived in 1846 as missionaries and spans over 170 years. Majority of the stories are about Jamaicans, like the author’s mother, who migrated to the United Kingdom in the 50s as part of the windrush generation, met their spouses, who were students there and followed them to Nigeria.

170 Years of Jamaican Presence in Nigeria

 The book explores the experiences of Jamaicans from different generations who came as missionaries, educators, agriculturists, industrialists, and healthcare workers, etc., highlighting their significant impact on their adopted home. The author, who once worked at the Jamaican High Commission in London, explained that the inspiration for writing the book came from her mother’s love for Nigeria, and she aimed to showcase the strong bonds between Jamaica and Nigeria through the theme of love. Kalango hopes that the book will inspire future generations of the African diaspora to connect with their African heritage.

Endorsements and Reviews

In his introduction to the book, Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi Osinbajo writes that the book went beyond being a mere chronicle of individuals who migrated from one country to another to telling the story of stolen people who managed to find their way back home, assimilate into the society they encountered, and make significant impacts in Nigeria. In her foreword, Jamaica’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith said the book shared a creative and inspiring perspective on Jamaicans in Nigeria and Jamaican-Nigerian relations. Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama described the book as a must-read for diplomats, researchers, the academia and the general public.

 ONE LOVE has received a 5-star rating from readers on amazon. A copy of the book can be gotten on Amazon. Also, to get more inquires about the book, visit this website https://kokokalango.com

Photo – Pamela Coke-Hamilton

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