The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia,net

Devynne Charlton couldn’t ask for a better start to her junior year at Purdue University.

Over the weekend, Charlton led three other Bahamians in action as the Boilermakers competed at the Conference Clash in Birmingham, Alabama.

In the meet, Charlton broke the school record in the women’s 60-metre hurdles, clocking 8.11 seconds to win the race in the second fastest collegiate time in the world this year. In the process, she also broke the Bahamian national record and qualified for the world indoor championships in Eugene, Oregon, in March.

“I am proud of my performance this weekend,” said Charlton of breaking the previous Bahamian record of 8.13 that was set by Ivanique Kemp on March 2, 2012, at the Arkansas Field Qualifier in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Charlton is now a holder of both the indoor and outdoor records.

Last year, she lowered the 100m hurdles national record to 13.00 at the NCAA Championships on June 13 in Eugene, but Adanaca Brown came back and beat her at the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ National Championships at Thomas A Robinson Track and Field Stadium on June 27 to even the mark. On Saturday, Charlton regained sole possession of the record.

“I expected to run well going against a large field of competition, but didn’t expect to run that fast this early in the season,” Charlton told The Tribune. “I was happy and excited to break the national record after being so close to it last year. And to add a world indoor qualifying mark is just icing on the cake.”

Charlton, a graduate of St Augustine’s College, had the second fastest qualifying time of 8.29 after she trailed Ohio State’s sophomore Chantel Ray, who had the same time for the top spot. However in the final, while Charlton went on to produce her best race ever, Ray failed to finish. Texas’ sophomore Ariel Jones trailed Charlton in 8.28.

Charlton, 20, also contested the 60m, but she was 10th overall in 7.43 and she just missed making the cut of eight for the final.

Carmeisha Cox, another 20-year-old who entered Purdue at the same time as Charlton after she graduated from Aquinas College, contested the 200m where she was 23rd overall in 24.49 as she also didn’t make the final.

Cox, however, ran the second leg on Purdue’s 4 x 400m relay team of Symone Black, Aarin Jones and Brionna Thomas that ran 3:37.59 for fifth place.

And Kinard Rolle, a sophomore from St Augustine’s College, was 10th in the men’s 400m in 48.27 as he didn’t make the top eight for the final.

Rolle, 18, came back and anchored Purdue’s 4 x 400 team of Nicholas Parks, Kyle Webb and Shawndail McLaren to a fifth place finish in 3:11,21.

Freshman Keanu Pennerman from St Anne’s School didn’t compete.

But Xavier Coakley, a freshman at Auburn University, contested the men’s 60m hurdles where he was 12th in 8.19, 41st in the 200m in 22.89 and he ran the third leg on the Tigers’ 4 x 400 team of Tyler Ross, Joshua Burks and Welington Zaza that got 17th in 3:24.10.