The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

ALTHOUGH she didn't go out as she anticipated, 100m hurdles specialist Devynne Charlton is eagerly looking forward to life after college as she prepares for her professional career in track and field.

Already, the Purdue University Boilermaker star, who graduated last month, has inked her name on a three-year contract with shoe company Puma as she begins her trek towards to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.

"It's a really good developmental contract with a lot of opportunities, as I get better as an athlete, to grow with my contract as well," Charlton told The Tribune.

"I decided to go with Puma because of the way they have treated the Bahamian athletes and Caribbean athletes more in general."

While the contract will include the 2019 International Amateur Athletic Federation's World Championships next year in Doha, Qatar, Charlton said she will have an option to remain with Puma for the 2021 IAAF World Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

"I feel pretty good about the deal," of which Charlton declined to go into any further details. "I didn't end my collegiate year quite like I wanted to, but it was a really good run nonetheless, so transitioning from that to the professional career is a really great opportunity.

"So I'm happy that Puma is taking this chance on me and hopefully I can live up to all of the expectations."

Charlton's deal includes Puma providing her with clothing to compete in and travel expenses to various international meets as she gets set for her debut in Barcelona, Spain, on July 11. That will be the first of two meets in Europe before she goes on to represent the Bahamas at the Central American and Caribbean Games, scheduled for Barranquilla, Colombia, July 19 to August 3 and the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC), set for August 10-12 in Toronto, Canada.

"I want to lower my PR (personal record) this season and also get the national outdoor record. That has always been my goal, to hold both the indoor and outdoor national records this season," she pointed out. "That's just this season, but in terms of next season, I just want to have a good showing at the World Championships and eventually the Olympic Games in two years." Charlton, 22, was a redshirt senior who capped off her career for the Boilermakers, coached by Bahamians Lonnie Greene and Norbert Elliott, by winning the Big Ten Track Athlete of the Year for the second consecutive year.

This year, Charlton was a first team All-America honour after her second-place finish at the NCAA Championships with a time of 12.77 seconds in the pouring rain. She was the highest finisher on the track of any individual in the conference.

At the Big Ten Championships, Charlton defended three titles as she won the 100m dash, 100m hurdles and was a member of the gold-medal 4x100-metre relay team. That performance earned her the Big Ten Track Athlete of the Championships. She led the conference with 24.5 points scored at the Big Ten meet.

Also this year, Charlton broke school records in the 100m dash and 100m hurdles. Her top time in the dash was 11.22, while her top hurdle time was 12.70. Both were regional qualifying times, though she only entered in the hurdles. At the regionals, she finished with the second best time to qualify for the NCAA Championships.

While she has produced a lifetime best of 12.70 in 100m with a winded time of 12.67, Charlton's 11.22 in the 100m and 23.61 in the 200m (23.05 wind aided), are her PRs in the sprints.

Indoors, she holds the Bahamian national record at 7.89 in the 60m hurdles and has ran PRs of 7.26 in the 60m, 23.99 in the 200m and 39.37 in the 300m.

In addition to her success as a Boilermaker, the two-time national 100m hurdles champion (2017 and 2018) has also represented the Bahamas at the IAAF World Indoors where she was 8th in the 60m hurdles in March in Birmingham.

She was a sixth place finisher in the 100m hurdles at her first appearance at the NACAC Championships in 2015 where she also ran on the women's 4 x 100m relay team that placed fourth.

Like she did for Purdue University, Charlton has also ran on both the 4 x 100 team at the Pan American Games in 2015 where they placed seventh and was on the Pan American U-20 Championships' 4 x 100m and 4 x 400m relays that won and got the bronze respectively in Miramar, Florida in 2011.

Now it's full fledge onto the pro ranks for Charlton, the second of three daughters of parents Laura and David Charlton. She admits that it's going to be a journey she is looking forward to contesting.

"I think it's going to be much harder now because there are more pros running at a higher level and they have more time to devote to track and field whereas in college, you are running against student-athletes, who are only athletes half of the time and students the other half," she pointed out.

"But I think I'm ready for it, considering that a lot of the meets I raced against professionals in the World Champs and in the collegiate meets, so I think I'm ready for it. When I think about it, there isn't a professional athlete that I haven't ran against in the hurdles that is up at the top."

As she begins her pro journey, Charlton will be training in Montgomery, Alabama, under the tutelage of Chuck Ryan, who also coaches Christina Manning. She will be the only Bahamian in the camp.

"I'm definitely excited. I look at it as a new chapter, so I'm really excited about this one," she stated.