The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

SAMSON Colebrooke feels he’s in the right environment under Bahamian head coach Norbert Elliott at Purdue University to make his presence felt on the international track and field scene in 2020.

Colebrooke, who became the second fastest Bahamian ever with a lifetime best of 10.01 seconds, said his goal is to break the Bahamian national record of 9.91 that is held by Derrick Atkins and go on to make a name for himself at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.

Before he left town today to complete his senior year at Purdue University, the 22-year-old Colebrooke shared some of his expertise at the High Performance Track Club’s third annual Sprints and Hurdles Clinic yesterday at the Thomas A Robinson Track Stadium.

“It’s been great. I had a great 2019 year at Purdue University,” said Colebrooke, who was first-team All-America in the 4 x 100m relay (outdoor) and All-Big Ten first team (outdoor) as well as a Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honouree.

“I was able to make the NCAA (championships) outdoors and I was able to compete and almost make the final. Coach Norbert Elliott has been a great mentor and coach. It’s just been a great experience.”

Having transferred from Barton Community College where he was named an All-American for his performance at the NJCAA Division 1 Outdoor National Championships in the 200m, 4 x 100m and 4 x 400m relays, Colebrooke said there were a lot of adjustments that he had to make.

“After a while, coach Norbert Elliott and the rest of the coaching staff was able to make everything so relaxing for me that I ended up having a great good experience so far,” Colebrooke stated.

As he prepares to wind down his collegiate career, Colebrooke said his main emphasis will be on the national record that Atkins set in a time of 9.91, winning the silver medal at the IAAF World Championships in 2007 in Osaka, Japan.

“When I ran the 10.01, it was a shock to me and it shocked everybody because we weren’t expecting all of that,” said Colebrooke of his time that produced a silver medal in a photo finish at the NACAC Under-18 and Under-23 Championships in Queretaro, Mexico in July.

“It showed the potential that God has blessed me with and we are building towards competing at the NCAA Indoor Nationals, the NCAA Outdoor Nationals and the Olympic Games.

“We are preparing and building towards those events, so expect great things from me and from the Boilermakers because I’m going out there to run.”

Before coming home, the Exuma native competed in the Fred Wilt Open on December 7 where he won the 60m final in 6.72 after he ran the preliminaries in a leading time of 6.75.

“It was a good opener. Like last year, I felt pretty good about the way things started for me,” Colebrooke said.

When he returns to Purdue, he will open the new year at the Gene Edmonds Memorial Invite over the weekend of January 10-11.

“I’m looking forward to getting in a good opener and hopefully going after more records,” he said.

After spending the past three weeks at home training with coach Andrew Tynes and some of his team-mates, as well as spending time with family and friends, Colebrooke said he was enlightened.

“To see all of the kids in training over the holiday was very encouraging,” Colebrooke said.

“With the potential here in the Bahamas, I’m looking forward to seeing some of these athletes doing what I’m doing.

“So it’s good to be able to set the pace for some of them to follow. I know the coaches here are doing a great job, so I expect some big things from the Bahamas, just as they can expect me to do some big things for the Bahamas.”