Jasmin Stowers burst onto the international stage with a personal best of 12.40secs at the 2015 Drake Relays. Just over two weeks later on Saturday, May 9, she announced herself as a true World Championship hopeful by lowering her world-leading time in winning the women’s 100m hurdles at the 2015 Jamaican Invitational International.
Stowers, a Louisiana State University (LSU) alumnae, blew away the field with ease, crossing the finish line in a career-best 12.39 (+2.0m/s) at the National Stadium in Kingston ahead of Jamaican sisters Danielle Williams (12.77) in second place and Shermaine Williams (12.89) in third.
Stowers is now ranked among the world’s Top 10 hurdlers as she is tied with Natalya Grigoryeva and Vera Komisova both of the former Soviet Union for the No. 10 spot in the all-time World rankings.
After entering the 2015 outdoor season with a previous personal best (PB) of 12.71 set at the 2014 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships following her final collegiate season at LSU, Stowers first dropped her PR in 2015 to 12.40 at the 106th Drake Relays on April 25, setting the meet record in the women’s 100m hurdles Beijing World Championship Preview. She was a split-second faster in Jamaica where she set a PB once again with a 12.39 clocking. She is now nearly two tenths of a second faster than the rest of the world this spring.
Great Britain’s Tiffany Porter follows Stowers in the 2015 World Rankings with a seasonal-best time of 12.56, while Australia’s Sally Pearson is next in the No. 3 spot at 12.59. They are the only three hurdlers to eclipse the 12.60 mark this spring. Reigning Olympic gold medalist Dawn Harper-Nelson ranks No. 5 at 12.71, while reigning World Champion Brianna Rollins follows in No. 7 at 12.75.
It has already been an outstanding debut season as a professional for Stowers as she has already been crowned the 2015 USA Indoor Champion in the 60m hurdles this season with an indoor PB.
A 2014 NCAA Outdoor silver medalist and former seven-time All-American and five-time SEC champion in four seasons with the Lady Tigers from 2011-14, Stowers claimed her first career national championship with a PR of 7.84 in the final of the 60m hurdles at the USA Indoor Championships at the Albuquerque (NM) Convention Center earlier this year. -Information provided by LSU Sports Information