Charlton’s Historic Season Continues at NCAA Championships

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EUGENE, OREGAN – Florida Gators junior Anthaya Charlton has made history time and time again on the track and in the field over the last few months, but the best part about her storybook season is that we haven’t seen the ending yet.

Charlton earned an All-American honor in the field with the long jump and finished fifth with a leap of 6.58m

As great as that performance was, it may have been her second most impressive performance of the afternoon in Eugene, Oregon.

In the 100m semifinals, Charlton won her heat in a blazing record setting 10.87 seconds. 

It was the sixth fastest time in NCAA history, third fastest time on the 2025 top list,  a new Florida gator record and the second fastest time in Bahamian history.

It was also the fastest semifinal time in NCAA Championships history, setting the stage for a dramatic finish in Saturday’s final.

Charlton and Quincy Penn led the gators’ 4x100m relay team, which earned a qualifying spot in the final with their time of 43.06 seconds, the no. 5 time in program history.

Tennesse Vols quartermiler  Javonya Valcourt earned her fifth-career All-American honor with a 13th-place finish in the 400-meter semifinal with a time of 51.65 seconds. 

The junior improved on her 16th place finish last season and was just the fifth vol in program history to be a multiple All-American in the event.

She also led the 4×400-meter relay team to a 15th place finish in 3:32.03 seconds.

2025-2026 Budget Debate

In his contribution to the budget, Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowleg unveiled major enhancements to the nation’s sports and athlete funding programs. 

Bowleg said that since 2021, millions have been invested across infrastructure, grants, Subventions, education, duty exemptions–and most critically, in empowering Bahamians as athletes, ambassadors, and leaders.

Minister Bowleg announced that the athlete subvention program will  increase to $1.7 million–a 25.8% growth over four years.

He also said the existing two-tier program will evolve into a four-tier framework, which also includes coaches and comes complete with athletes’ pension and national insurance benefits for the first time.