Levern Spencer
Levern Spencer kept her 2013 unbeaten record alive at Saturday’s Auburn War Eagle Invitational, but she’s still hunting for what would be virtually an automatic berth at this year’s World Championships in Moscow.
The Saint Lucian veteran outlasted nine jumppers at the Hutsell-Rosen Track on the campus of Auburn University in Alabama, but her winning height was just 1.90m, well below her best, and just her third-best effort this season.
Levern opened at 1.84m, which she cleared on her second trial. After passing at 1.87, she cleared 1.90 on her first attempt, then passed at 1.93m.
Nigeria’s Doreen Amata also cleared 1.90, but needed two attempts to do so, and she was unable to negotiate the next height, handing Levern the win.
The Saint Lucian champion, a Mizuno professional, then asked for the bar to go to 1.96m, a centimetre above the World Championships A standard, which she has yet to attain this season. So far this outdoor season, the top jump in the world is 1.94m, by London Olympic silver medalist Brigetta Barrett of the USA.
Levern’s mark of 1.93 from her season opener five weeks ago is second.