The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

At some point before she was done, Devynne Charlton figured that she would eventually face Pedrya Seymour in a major collegiate championship matchup.

That opportunity could finally come this weekend as Charlton completes her four-year sting for the Boilermakers at Purdue University and Seymour - a junior transfer for the University of Texas Longhorns - advances to the final of the women’s 100 metres at the NCAA Division One 2018 Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

The championships will get underway today at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, when the men will compete in their semi-final events, while the women’s semis won’t be contested until Thursday. The men’s finals are set for Friday and the women will go on Saturday.

In addition to Charlton and Seymour, the Bahamas will be represented by several athletes at different schools in their respective events.

But for the first time, Bahamians will get a possible chance to see the much anticipated matchup that Charlton said would close out her collegiate career. “I feel pretty good. I just had my last hard workout yesterday and so I’m just ready to go,” Charlton said.

“I don’t want to put anything out there. I just want to go out there and do my best and hopefully that would be good enough to come out with the win, a national record and a school record. But really the focus is just to execute a good race, something that I haven’t done in a while.”

With one of the top times in college, Charlton said she’s confident that she will do very well. But she admitted that having Seymour as a possible matchup in the final is something that she has been looking forward to for quite some time.

“Thinking about it, this would be our first time competing against each other outdoors because either I was hurt or she was hurt,” Charlton said.

“So I think it will be a treat to see us both compete against each other. I still look at it as another matchup because you don’t want to give anybody any edge, but I want to see good things from her, just as well as I want to do very well.”

And with the other Bahamians competing, Charlton said it should be a festive weekend in Eugene.

“Being away from home, you won’t get to compete in front of the home crowd, so it’s just as comforting to have fellow Bahamians competing at the same meet,” she pointed out. “We can get to talk and cheer on each other, so it’s something that I’m going to be looking forward to as well.”

No doubt, Charlton will have some extra incentive as her parents Laura and Dave Charlton are set to be on the sidelines as they’ve done at several meets in the past.

“They always support me. I always say they find a way to follow me around the world because anytime I have a major competition, they are there making sure I have that support,” she insisted. “It’s very important for me because looking into the stands and seeing some familiar faces gives me some added motivation.”

Women’s sprints

Grand Bahamian Brianne Bethel has had an exceptional sophomore season at the University of Houston where the Cougars have a Bahamian assistant coach in Golden Girl Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie, who has been grooming one half of the twin sisters.

Bethel has earned the rights to contest both the 100 and 200m. She will compete in lane one in the last of three heats in the 100m with a seeded time of 11.31. And her time of 23.01 has occupying lane two in the second of three heats in the 200m. In both events, the top two from each heat plus the next best two times will move on to the final.

Women’s discus

After rebounding from an injury that prevented her from competing last year, Texas A&M’s sophomore Serena Brown will be among the field in the women’s discus where she will be the last of 12 competitors in the first of two flights. Brown has a chance to bring some glory to the famed Aggies’ programme by being one of the nine competitors to get into the final round to content for the top spots.

Men’s Triple Jump

In an event where the Bahamas has achieved a great deal of success on the field, Kaiwan Culmer will be out to claim his own spotlight when he competed for the final time as a senior for the University of Nebraska where his sister Kenya Culmer left her mark as a high jumper.

Culmer will approach the run way as the second competitor in the last of two flights of 12 each where the top nine will move on to compete for the top spots. He comes into the competition with a seeded mark of 15.85m.

Men’s Javelin

Not known as one of those events where the Bahamas has a tradition of doing well, Denzel Pratt could add some more history to his resume when he throw for Liberty University.

The Bahamian national record holder will be the sixth competitor in the second flight of 12 where again the top nine will move on to compete for the top spots. His seeded mark is 69.60m.

4 x 400m Relays

No meet will be complete without the Bahamas having a presence and there will be at least two as quarter-miler Janae Ambrose, in her junior year, is scheduled to be a part of Auburn University women’s 4 x 400m team that will compete in lane four in the last of the three heats of eight teams. The top two teams in each heat, plus the next best two will appear in the final.

And hurdler Xavier Coakley, also a junior, will be out to add some more roar for the Tigers when he compete on Auburn’s 4 x400m team that will be in lane two in the first of three heats of eight each. Again, the top two from each heat and the next two best times will earn their lane in the final.