The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Devynne Charlton, fully recovered from a back injury that hampered her progress in the NCAA Championships and her debut in the Olympic Games last year, inked her name in the Purdue University Boilermakers record books for the indoors 60-metres, while adding another triumph in her specialty in the 60m hurdles to lead the Bahamian connection over the weekend in West Lafayette.

After qualifying with an easy 7.55 seconds in the preliminaries of the 60m hurdles, Charlton came back in the final against four of her teammates, including school-record holder Savannah Carson. In the race, Charlton got off to a great start and led the entire way, crossing the line in 7.30 seconds to break the record by 0.02 of a second.

In the process, Charlton’s time turned out to be the third in the United States of America and the best so far in the Big Ten Conference that the Boilermakers compete in.

Charlton, a red shirt junior, said she felt pretty good about her performance. “Breaking the record helped me gain some of my confidence back and feel that I’m near 100 per cent again,” she told The Tribune.

Charlton, the holder of Purdue’s records in the 60m (7.30), 60mH (7.97), indoor 200m (23.64) and 100mH (13.00), said she plans to build on the momentum of the meet as she improves her times and hopefully breaks more records in the process.

Carson finished second in the race with a time of 7.39 seconds, putting her at eighth in the country and second in the conference.

Bahamian Carmiesha Cox, now in her senior year, had to settle for third in 7.49 with Sekayi Bracey coming in fourth in 7.61 seconds.

“Having Carmiesha in the race is always a push for me because she’s a strong competitor and brings out the best in me,” said Charlton of her close friend.

Not too long after her record breaking feat, Charlton also cruised to a preliminary win in the 60m hurdles in 8.36 seconds and took the final in 8.14 seconds to post the second fastest time in the country and the best in the Big Ten.

Cox, on the other hand, then won the women’s 200m dash. She ran a time of 24.42 seconds, which converts to 24.05 seconds due to track size. The converted time is ninth in the country.

The two male competitors on the Boilermakers’ rosters also competed in the meet.

In the 400m, Kinard Rolle won the 400m dash in a time of 47.89 seconds, which converts to 47.14, which is currently listed as the best in the country.

Rolle, a red shirt sophomore, also teamed up with Shawndail McLaren, Obokhare Ikpefan and Kyle Webb to win the 4x400m relay in 3:15.27, which is converted to 3:12.21 for a top-10 in the country.

And Keanu Pennerman, also a sophomore, came in second in both the 60m in 6.80, ranked 19th in the country and 22.47 in the 200m, which converts to 22.08 seconds.

The Boilermakers, led by Bahamian head coach Lonnie Greene and his assistant Norbert Elliott, who is responsible for the men’s sprints, hurdles and relays, will head to Bloomington, Indiana this weekend to take on the Hoosiers in the annual Purdue vs. IU Dual.