The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

For the fourth season in a row, Bahamian collegiate standout Denisha Cartwright has emerged as the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Women’s Indoor Track & Field Athlete of the Year.

The Minnesota State senior earned 30 points at the NSIC Championships (NSIC High Point Performer) and won all three events she competed in, breaking the NSIC record in each. “I feel great about it. I just feel my progression is just getting better and better each year, so these awards will come along with my hard work and everything else,” Cartwright said.

“So I feel really appreciative and excited that I am still about to go out there and do some great things and still be considered for the awards.”

The diminutive sprinter/ hurdler showed her versatility as she won the 60 metre hurdles for the fourth year in a row with an NCAA record time of 7.93 (third fastest time in NCAA competition this season - all levels).

With her performance coming just before Devynne Charlton broke her world record in the 60m hurdles for the second time to win the gold medal at the World Indoor Athletics Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, on Sunday, Cartwright said she is even more inspired to go out and do her best in her speciality.

“I want to be out there with her and Charisma too,” stated Cartwright.

“They’re on the big stage. They are more experienced and in their pro careers, but I can’t wait to join them and to make my country proud.”

She also broke the NSIC record in the 200m dash in a time of 23.68 and won the 60m dash with a time of 7.23, tying her own record from the 2023 prelims.

Cartwright ranks first in NCAA Division II this weekend at the Robert W. Plaster Center in Pittsburg, Kansas in the 60m (7.23), 200m (23.32) and 60m hurdles (7.93). She’s excited about competing in the meet.

“I feel there’s no pressure. I know the competition is going to be out there for me this weekend,” she said.

“But I’ve been training hard, putting everything I have in both the sprints and the hurdles.

“So I feel honestly about executing and to really go out there and show what I can do.”

The 24-year-old, who is the daughter of former volleyball national team player and coach Leslie ‘Russia’ Cartwright and Denise Cartwright, has certainly been in a class of her own so far.