WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Seniors Symone Black and Devynne Charlton are co-Big Ten Track Athletes of the Week, the conference office announced Wednesday. It is the first time in Big Ten history that two women from the same school split a track athlete of the week award in the same week during the outdoor season. Indoors, it has happened just once as Penn State pulled off the feat Feb. 1, 2017.
Including Black and Charlton, the Purdue women have won five Big Ten weekly awards during the outdoor season. Senior Brionna Thomas was named the Big Ten Track Athlete of the Week on April 4, while Black and senior Savannah Carson earned track and field awards, respectively, March 21.
Black won the women's 400-meter hurdles at the LSU Battle on the Bayou with a time of 56.58 seconds. She won the race by 1.87 seconds. Her time was the fastest in the country for meets last weekend and it's the No. 2 time in the NCAA this outdoor season. It is the best in the Big Ten this year. Her time is the 14th-fastest by any woman in the world this year.
Black also led off the 4x400-meter relay that won with a time of 3:33.48. That time was the fastest in the country for meets held last weekend. Aside from Purdue's performance at the Florida Relays earlier this season, no Big Ten team has run as fast this year as the Boilermakers did at LSU. Only five other schools in the country have a time better than what Purdue ran to win the Battle on the Bayou.
Charlton was a winner in the 100-meter hurdles and 100-meter dash, while helping the 4x100-meter relay team take second. In the hurdles, Charlton broke her own school record with a wind-legal (+1.2) time of 12.70 seconds. That time is No. 2 in the NCAA this year, the best among wind-legal marks, and third in the world among wind-legal times. Her time was the fastest in the world for meets held over the weekend. Charlton's time set the Bernie Moore Track Stadium record, breaking Olympian Lolo Jones' previous record of 12.71 seconds. The stadium, which opened in 1969, has hosted numerous NCAA and SEC Championships and other world events.
Charlton won the 100-meter dash with a windy (+2.1) time of 11.34 seconds. Her time ranks 20th in the country and second in the Big Ten this season. In the 4x100-meter relay, she led off for the team that finished with a time of 44.39 seconds. That time is the best in the Big Ten this season and 15th best in the NCAA.
The honor is the fifth of Black's career, while Charlton now has two in her outdoor career and three total.
The Boilermakers resume action this weekend as they head to Louisville for the Louisville Invitational. The meet is scheduled for Saturday.