Personal best times and medals for Gaither, Charlton

Tue, May 19th 2015, 12:00 AM

While Shave Hart and Latario Collie-Minns were turning in big performances in the SEC (Southeastern Conference), female sprinters Tynia Gaither and Devynne Charlton were burning up the track at their respective conference championships.

Gaither and Charlton won three medals - two gold and a silver each - in the Pac-12 Track & Field Championships and Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships, respectively.

Gaither, a redshirt junior at the University of Southern California (USC), picked up two gold medals in the 200 meters (m) and the women's 4x100m relay, and added a silver in the 100m. Charlton got her gold medals in the 100m and women's 4x100m relay, and secured a silver in the 100m hurdles.

As for Gaither, her time in the women's 100 meters (m) was not only a personal best, but it also qualified her for the Beijing World Championships. She finished second to Oregon's sophomore Jasmine Todd, in 11.27 seconds, and moved into ninth on USC's all-time list. Todd won in 11.18, and Ky Westbrook, a freshman at USC, finished third, in 11.36 seconds. Led by Gaither, USC finished second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth in that event. Gaither qualified out of the heats in 11.40 seconds, and the qualifying mark for Beijing is 11.33.

Gaither took the gold in the 200m, stopping the clock in 22.97 seconds. It was a 1-2-3 finish for USC as fellow junior Alexis Faulknor was second, in 23.08 seconds; freshman Deanna Hill finished third, in 23.14 seconds. Todd had to settle for fourth this time, finishing in 23.21 seconds. Gaither qualified out of the heats in 23.15 seconds, and she was joined by six other USC Trojans in the final.

Gaither then picked up her second gold medal of the meet, anchoring the USC Trojans women's 4x100m relay team home in 43.10 seconds. That team consisted of Hill, Westbrook, Faulknor and Gaither, in that order. Their time broke the meet record set last season by USC (43.21) and ranks third all-time by a Pac-12 squad, all three by the Trojans. Oregon was second in 43.65 seconds, and the University of Washington finished a distant third, in 44.57 seconds.

At the end of the meet, Gaither and the Trojans women settled for second in the overall team standings, just three points behind Oregon. They fell 185-182. USC's point total was the most ever by a second place team and they won seven event titles - more than any other school.

Gaither and the Trojans will next be in action at the 2015 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) West Preliminary Rounds hosted by the University of Texas in Austin, Texas from May 28-30.
Moving the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Bruins in Westwood, California, to the Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the campus of the Michigan State Spartans in East Lansing, Michigan, Bahamian Devynne Charlton was continuing her impressive season.

Charlton, a sophomore at Purdue University, took the 100m in a personal best and school record of 11.37 seconds, just missing out on qualifying for the Beijing World Championships in the event. She held the former school record of 11.49 seconds before that stunning run over the weekend. Fellow Bahamian Carmiesha Cox, also a sophomore at Purdue, was in that race as well, but her leg tightened up early in the race which hampered her progress and forced her eventually withdraw from the 200m final and her leg of the 4x400m relay. Cox is expected to be healthy for the regionals in less than two weeks time, though.

In the 100m, she ended up eighth in 11.98 seconds. Michigan State's senior Jellisa Westney was second behind Charlton, in 11.49 seconds; Ohio State's junior Aisha Cavin was third, in 11.51 seconds. Charlton qualified out of the heats in 11.51 seconds, and Cox qualified in 11.63 seconds.

In the 200m, Cox made the final but was forced to withdraw after her leg tightened up in the final of the 100m. Charlton failed to make the final in that event. They ran 23.38 and 23.76 seconds in the heats respectively.
Charlton was once again a force to reckon with in the 100m hurdles. She finished second in that event, tying her national record that was set three weeks ago. She ran 13.06 seconds.

Cindy Ofili, a junior at Michigan, won that event, in 12.89 seconds, Charlton was second, and Ohio State junior Alexis Franklin finished third, in 13.42 seconds. Charlton qualified out of the heats, in 13.21 seconds.

Prior to her slight injury in the women's 100m final, Cox teamed up with Charlton in the women's 4x100m to win that title for the Purdue Boilermakers. Purdue's team of Savannah Carson, Cox, Charlton and Twyla Winfrey, in that order, ran 44.65 seconds for the title. Iowa was second, in 44.71 seconds, and Michigan State finished third, in 44.81 seconds. The 44.65 time by Purdue is the second-fastest in program history, just 0.03 of a second off the record set earlier this year.

The Purdue women finished sixth at the Big Ten Championships with 67.5 points, and none of their medalists nor members of the relay teams were seniors.

"We competed very, very well," said Purdue's head coach, Bahamian Rolando "Lonnie" Greene. "We had some ups and downs, but I thought we battled... Devynne is a warrior. On her third race, to win that race, she is a warrior. Then she walks off like it wasn't any big deal. If we would have asked her to run in the 4x400m relay, she would have done it and done it well. She was great today," he added.

Just one other Bahamian participated in the meet for Purdue, and that was freshman Kinard Rolle on the men's side. Rolle failed to get out of the heats of the men's 400m. He finished 23rd overall, in 48.90 seconds, and was on the Boilermakers' men's 4x400m relay team that finished fourth, in 3:10.07. That team consisted of Nicholas Parks, Kendal Frederick, Rolle and Chris Arvia in that order. Illinois won the title, in 3:06.57, Ohio State was second, in 3:06.83, and Iowa won the bronze medal, in 3:08.29.

Purdue has a week off before the NCAA East Preliminary Round in Jacksonville, Florida.

Bahamian Dannielle Gibson, a sophomore at Pennsylvania State University, also took part in the Big Ten Championships, and was third in the women's triple jump and fourth in the long jump. She had a best leap of 12.89m (42' 3-1/2") to win the bronze in the triple jump, and matched her personal best with a jump of 6.15m (20' 2-1/4") to finish fourth in the long jump event. She missed the bronze in that event by just one centimeter.

Nebraska's freshman Reka Czuth won the gold in the long jump with a jump of 6.30m (20' 8"), her teammate Jazmin McCoy, a sophomore, was second with a best jump of 6.25m (20' 6-1/4"), and Maryland's senior Thea LaFond barely held off Gibson for the bronze medal, jumping 6.16m (20' 2-1/2").

In the women's triple jump, LaFond won the gold medal, with a best leap of 13.48m (44' 2-3/4"), Nebraska junior Mollie Gribbin was second with a best leap of 13.20m (43' 3-3/4"), and Gibson captured the bronze.

One other Bahamian took part in the Big Ten Championships this past weekend. Kaiwan Culmer, a freshman at Nebraska, was 11th overall in the men's triple jump with a best jump of 14.97m (49' 1-1/2").

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