Home|Sports|Bahamians see action in college athleticsSports
Simba FrenchSend an emailJanuary 17, 2023 86 2 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email
Several Bahamians were in action on the collegiate scene this past weekend, getting in some track and field action to start off the year.
The Kentucky Wildcats’ Anthaya Charlton was able to hold off 28 jumpers to win the long jump competition on Friday. She wasted no time getting in a good jump as her first jump was her best jump – a personal best of 6.18 meters (m) – 20’ 3-1/4”. She did it at her school’s Rod McCravy Memorial Meet which was held at the Wildcats’ Nutter Field House in Lexington, Kentucky.
The leap placed her at number eight on her school’s all-time list.
Charlton later competed in the 200m along with her teammate and fellow Bahamian Megan Moss. Charlton clocked 24.90 seconds to place 14th overall while Moss clocked 24.91 seconds to finish 15th overall.
Also running at the meet, representing Puma, was Charlton’s older sister Devynne Charlton, who is also an assistant coach for the Wildcats. She ran in the 60m. The older Charlton ran 7.49 seconds. The younger Charlton competed in that event and ran 7.61 seconds in the heats. Anthaya Charlton ran in the 60m dash final while her sister opted to sit out. Anthaya finished eighth with a time of 7.56 seconds.
Devynne Charlton was in action in the 60m hurdles and she finished second with a time of 7.98 seconds. In the heats, the Olympian ran 8.59 seconds and returned in the semifinals to run a time of 8.05 seconds.
Moss was in action in the 400m and was able to post a time of 54.85 seconds to place sixth.
Also in action at this meet was Ohio State University’s Adrian Curry. In the men’s 50m, he advanced to the final after finishing with the seventh fastest time of 6.90 seconds in the semifinals. He clocked 6.85 seconds in the preliminaries. Curry sat out the final.
Javonya Valcourt was impressive in her first collegiate meet for the Clemson University Tigers as they competed at the Clemson Invite at the Clemson Indoor Track in Clemson, South Carolina. The freshman sprinted her way to finish second in the 400m with a time of 54.24 seconds. Also in that race was Northern Colorado’s Wendira Moss who finished seventh in 56.44 seconds.
Valcourt’s teammate Charisma Taylor was in action in the 60m hurdles. The graduate student finished third in a time of 8.20 seconds. She ran 8.36 seconds in the preliminaries. She tried her hand in the 200m and placed 13th with a time of 24.64 seconds. It was Taylor’s first meet of the year.
Valcourt ran the 4x400m relay with her teammates Mia O’Neil, Kyla Robinson-Hubbar and Joella Lloyd. They placed third after clocking 3:41.72.
Lacarthea Cooper, a freshman at New Mexico Junior College, powered her way to a third-place finish in the 400m at the Texas Tech Corky Classic at the Texas Tech Sports Performance Center in Lubbock, Texas. The Olympian posted a National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Championships qualifying time of 54.91 seconds. She was also in action in the 4x400m relay with teammates Ashantai Bollers, Deshana Skeete and Calisha Taylor. They posted a NJCAA Championships qualifying time of 3:42.39 to finish second.
Karon Dean was also at the meet, running in the 60m for University of Texas at El Paso. He reached the final and finished fourth with a time of a 6.66 seconds. Dean ran 6.65 seconds in the semifinals and posted a time of 6.74 seconds in the preliminaries.
The collegiate indoor season continues this coming weekend at various venues around the United States.