By Gary Smith
Caribbean Net News Sports Correspondent
Email: gary@caribbeannetnews.com

SACRAMENTO, USA: Trinidad and Tobago's World Junior champion Rhonda Watkins, representing University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), produced an impressive 6.95m to win the women's Long Jump title on the second day of the 2007 NCAA Championships in Sacramento, California, on Thursday.

After fouling on her first attempt in the pit, the Trinidadian National Junior record holder then surged to a gutsy 6.62m, before producing what in the end turned out to be the winning mark in the third round.

Her mark, however, will not stand amongst the top level leading jumps this season as it was assisted by a +2.5 m/s wind, which is over the 2.0 limit set by the governing body for the sport.

Watkins' other marks were a 6.40m in the fifth round, before finishing up with a mark of 6.60m. The 2006 junior standout owns a seasonal best of 6.80m, which ranks her 6th on the IAAF top list of jumpers in 2007.

Mississippi sophomore, Brittney Reese, who took the lead after the first round with a leap of 6.71m finished second, with third going to Erica McLain of Stanford with a mark of 6.53m.