The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Queen’s College versatile track and field star Charisma Taylor is enjoying a phenomenal graduate transitional year from Washington State College to a Lady Volunteer at the University of Tennessee.

Not only did she break the Bahamian and Lady Vols’ records in the triple jump, but Taylor also achieved the 60m hurdles standard for the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.

Securing one of her two victories over the weekend at the Bob Pollack Meet in Clemson, South Carolina, Taylor erased the all-time Lady Vol record in the 60-metre hurdles on Friday in a time of 8.01 seconds.

The previous record of 8.04s was established by Celriece Law in 2009. In the process, Taylor moved into a tie for 10th place in the world, matched the third best time done in the Southeastern Conference and equalled the fifth best in the NCAA.

And she also surpassed the qualifying standard of 8.16 for the World Indoors, scheduled for March 18-20, but she will remain at school as she focuses her attention on the National College Athletic Association (NCAA) season.

The Southeastern Conference (SEC) Championships is set for March 25-26 at College Station, Texas, followed by the NCAA Indoor Championships, set for March 11-12 in Birmingham, Alabama. The outdoor season is expected to begin over the weekend of March 23-25 at the Raleigh Relays.

Over the weekend in the triple jump, the 22-year-old Taylor also soared 45-feet, 7 1/4-inches or 13.90 metres in her double victory to eclipse the Lady Vols’ previous mark of 44-5 1/4 (13.54m) set by LaChyna Roe in 2019 and the Bahamian national record of 13.60m that was set by Tamara Myers on February 10, 2018 at the Tyson Invite in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

In fact, Taylor soared past the mark on her first attempt with 45-3 1/2 (13.80m) before she extended it to the permanent mark on her fifth attempt. Her record-setting performance was posted as the sixth best in the world and the third in the NCAA.

“I feel really good about my performances this weekend. It is showing me that all the hard work that I put into practice is paying off,” said Taylor, who needed to clear 46-11 (14.30m) for the World’s Indoor qualifying standard in the triple jump.

Like she’s done all through her career, Taylor said she continues to enjoy the experience of competing from one event to the other, including the long jump, which she didn’t contest this weekend.

“The events I do are very different so there isn’t one event that I enjoy more than the other, I have a special love for each of my events,” Taylor said. “I am very happy with my performance in the long jump and I know I can improve on that in the near future.”

Beth Alford-Sullivan, Tennessee’s director of track and field/cross country, said Taylor’s versatility has proven to be a tremendous asset to their Lady Vols programme.

“We’ve had a great opportunity with adding Charisma into our team and into our fold,” Alford-Sullivan said. “She’s a graduate student. She’s in the MBA programme here. She’s just an outstanding first-class young person.

“Charisma is a perfect example of coming in and being open to being coached and being passionate about what she’s doing. We’ve just been able to clock with her and she’s been able to click with us. Charisma and the coaches have done an outstanding job.”

On Saturday, January 22, Taylor contested the long jump where she soared a personal best of 20-8 1/2 (6.31m) at the Hokie Invitational in Blacksburg, Virginia for second place, but the highest collegiate finish. The feat moved her up six to fourth on the Tennessee indoor long jump top-10 list.

Prior to that performance, Taylor had a previous best of 20-6 1/4 (6.25m) at the Virginia Tech Invite over the weekend of January 14-25. At the time, it ranked her at No.7 on Tennessee’s indoor top-10 list.

In making her debut for Tennessee, Taylor also competed in the 60m hurdles where she had set a PR in 8.11 to pull even for third on the all-time performances in the Lady Vols’ history.

“My transition from one school to the next was really smooth,” Taylor reflected. “My coaches and I have had a very good relationship since the beginning and it has really helped me to adjust to their coaching styles.”

Taylor is expected to be back in action over the weekend of February 11-12 when she competes in the Tyson Invite in Alabama.

“Right now we are focusing on getting the job done indoors, but outdoors I will be competing in the triple jump, hurdles and long jump,” she stated.

“We will see when the time comes. I just train hard and listen to what my coaches say.”

So far, it’s working to her perfection on the track and on the field.