The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

DEVYNNE Charlton and Danielle Gibson led a Purdue University and Penn State show in a Bahamian connection at the Big Ten Outdoor Championship in University Park in Philadelphia as the collegiate conference meets were held over the weekend.

Meanwhile at the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Outdoor Track and Field Championships on the campus of South Carolina, the Auburn connection of Janae Ambrose, Teray Smith and Xavier Coakley competed in another series of events for Bahamians.

BIG TEN

Charlton, in her senior year, posted a pair of victories and a fifth place to lead the field of competitors that included Gibson, Carmiesha Cox, Keianna Albury, Kaiwan Culmer and Kinard Rolle.

In her specialty in the 100m hurdles, Charlton ran 12.67 to take the title over her nearest rival, senior Kimberly Golding from Minnesota, who did 12.98.

She won the highly contested 100m which featured two other Bahamians in 11.31 seconds. Her team-mate and close friend Carmiesha Cox was fourth in 11.48, while Penn State’s sophomore Keianna Albury was eighth in 11.68.

In the 200m, Cox got the better of the trio with her fourth place in 23.04. Charlton followed in fifth in 23.17 and Albury was eighth again in 23.46.

With Cox and Albury running the first two legs, Purdue won the 4 x 100m relay in 44.79. Albury ran the second leg to help Penn State to a fifth place in 45.68.

Gibson, in her senior year at Penn State, was also a winner taking the women’s triple jump with a leap of 5.96 metres or 45-feet, 1 ¾-inches.

In the long jump, Gibson was eighth with a leap of 5.96m (19-6 ¾).

On the men’s side, Kaiwan Culmer, a junior at Nebraska, was third in the men’s triple jump with a leap of 16.12m (52-10 ¾).

Rolle came 17th in the preliminaries of the 400m in 47.82. He also ran the third leg for Purdue as their 4 x 1 team got fourth in 40.83.

And in the 4 x 4m relay, Rolle led off for Purdue as they ran 3:03.65 for third place behind Ohio State (3:04.95) and Penn State (3:05.22).

SEC Championships

Ambrose, now in her sophomore year, was 17th in the women’s 100m in 11.54 and she was 13th in the 200m in 23.11.

Ambrose anchored Auburn women’s 4 x 1 team to third in 43.35. LSU won in 42.56.

After getting disqualified in a false start in the men’s 100m preliminaries, Smith came back in his specialty in the 200m for an eighth place. The Auburn senior ran 20.72. He had the eighth fastest qualifying time of 20.47.

Smith also had double duties in the relays, running the open leg of their 4 x 100m team that finished fifth in 39.27. LSU won in 38.71. He also ran the second leg on their 4 x 4 team that came second in 3:02.10. Texas A&M won in 3:00.72.

Coakley, a sophomore also from Auburn, didn’t advance out of the preliminaries of the men’s 110m hurdles after running 14.42 for 14th overall. Coakley was also 13th in the 400m hurdles in 53.33.

Up next is the NCAA East Regional, scheduled for May 25-27 at the University of Kentucky Outdoor Track & Field Complex in Lexington, Kentucky.

The top 12 finishers in each event at the regional will qualify for the 2017 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, which will be held June 7-10 at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field.

DEVYNNE Charlton and Danielle Gibson led a Purdue University and Penn State show in a Bahamian connection at the Big Ten Outdoor Championship in College Station as the collegiate conference meets were held over the weekend.

Meanwhile at the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Outdoor Track and Field Championships on the campus of South Carolina, the Auburn connection of Janae Ambrose, Teray Smith and Xavier Coakley competed in another series of events for Bahamians.

In addition, Serena Brown competed in both the discus and shot put for Texas A&M. In the discus, the freshman got third with a distance of 32.01m (170-7). The performance came one day after she failed to get in a mark in the shot put, fouling all three of her attempts.