WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Three Boilermakers were tabbed conference athletes of the week, the Big Ten announced Wednesday. Devynne Charlton was named the women's track athlete of the week, Anaquan Peterson picked up the men's field athlete of the week honor and Kinard Rolle was tabbed the men's co-track athlete of the week for their efforts at the Gene Edmonds Open.
It is the first time a single school has collected three Big Ten Track & Field Athlete of the Week honors in a single week since Dec. 15, 2014, when Indiana picked up three. Purdue also had two honorees that week.
Peterson picks up the second indoor honor of his career and first of the season. His other award came the final week of last season. The senior from Suffolk, Virginia, won the long jump and triple jump at the Gene Edmonds Open over the weekend. His triple jump mark of 15.69 meters (51-5.75) is tied for the best in the country this season, while his long jump distance of 7.24m (23-9.00) is tied for 26th. Peterson is the only jumper in the conference to earn the men's field athlete of the week award over the last two-plus seasons. Aside from his own honor a year ago, the last men's jumper named field athlete of the week was Steve Waithe of Penn State on Feb. 17, 2014. The last Purdue men's jumper to earn a weekly honor was pole vaulter Chris Thoman on Jan. 29, 2008.
Purdue men have dominated the field athlete of the week award, winning eight of the last 10 dating to the Boilermakers' first meet of the 2015-16 season.
Rolle's track athlete of the week honor comes on the heels of a nation-leading mark in the 400m dash. The junior from Nassau, Bahamas, won the race on Purdue's 200m flat track with a time of 47.89 seconds, which converts to 47.14 seconds. That time is 0.22 of a second better than anyone else in the country this season. Rolle also ran a leg of the winning 4x400-meter relay team, which finished with a time of 3:15.27. That time converts to 3:12.21, which ranks fifth in the country. Rolle is Purdue's first man to win the conference track athlete of the week since Obokhare Ikpefan who picked up the honor Dec. 15, 2014. Coincidentally, Rolle ran the second leg of Saturday's 4x400m relay and handed off to Ikpefan.
Charlton picks up her first Big Ten Track Athlete of the Week four days after winning the 60-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles. Charlton, from Nassau, Bahamas, broke the school record in the 60m dash with a time of 7.30 seconds, edging previous school-record holder Savannah Carson by 0.09 of a second in the final. Charlton's time ranks third in the country, best in the Big Ten and was the fastest time in the nation for the week. She then ran the hurdles final just minutes later and won with a time of 8.14 seconds. That time is second in the country this year and was the fastest nationally over the weekend. That time is faster than any other woman in school history has run and 0.17 of a second off her PR. Despite earning the Big Ten Track Athlete of the Championships award at the indoor meet last year, Charlton had never earned a weekly honor. She is Purdue's first woman to win a weekly award since Carson on Dec. 16, 2015.
Peterson, Rolle, Charlton and the Boilermakers are back in action Saturday with a trip to Bloomington, Indiana, for the annual Purdue vs. Indiana Dual. The meet will be scored with the winner of each gender earning a point towards the Governor's Cup.