Jamaican quarter miler Akeem Bloomfield came within a whisker of breaking the national 400 meters record at the NCAA Outdoor Athletics Championships in Oregon last night.

The former Kingston college athlete representing the university of auburn clocked a new personal best 43.94 seconds to finish runner up in the 400 meters in last night’s final at the Hayward field – that’s 100th of a second outside Rusheen McDonald national record of 43.93.

Bloomfield finished ahead of team mate and former St Jago star Nathon Allen who clocked 44.14 for third place as American Michael Norman won the event in a world leading 43.61 seconds.

Kemar Mowatt representing Arkansas was a fourth place finisher in the men’s 400 meters hurdles as he clocked 48.83 seconds – the race won by Ray Benjamin in a world leading 47.02 seconds.

Meanwhile former st Jago sprinter Raheem Chambers representing Auburn clocked 10.33 seconds for 5th place in the men’s 100 meters final.

Cameron Burrell of Houston won the event in 10.13 seconds.