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GOLD & BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 4 83 say anything (about them)," Greene said. "Once I got to Purdue, we went after them." Greene and Elliott weren't the only coaches recruiting the highly sought after duo, however. Charlton and Cox explored several collegiate options in the United States as the lone major university in their homeland — The College of the Baha- mas — lacked much of a track program. The duo made visits to Texas Tech, Flor- ida State, Clemson and Purdue. "When it was time to pick colleges, we visited the same schools and it was almost like a package deal you could call us," Cox said. "We knew we wanted to go to the United States because we wanted to be more devel- oped." Charlton's family ties to the Purdue coaching staff helped persuade her and Cox to the school. Elliott and Charlton's mother, Laura, attended high school together, and Greene admired David growing up running track in the Baha- mas, calling him "one of the best ath- letes I've ever seen or raced against in my entire life." "It almost felt like a second home," Cox said. "Making the decision wasn't very hard when we came. It felt fami- ly-oriented and the academics just sealed the deal." After being battle tested at world and national championships for several years, the pair hasn't been fazed by the Division I level of competition. Charlton ran the third-fastest out- door 100-meter dash time in school his- tory last season and broke the indoor 60-meter hurdles record twice, most recently in February. "When I researched every school, I looked up their reputation in track and some of their records," Charlton said. "I saw that having some records was something that was pretty attainable. It was one of my goals coming in." After injuries plagued her fresh- man campaign, Cox has come on strong as a sophomore. She set the school record for the indoor 200-me- ter dash (23.87) at the Meyo Invita- tional and runs the third leg for the 4 x 400-meter dash team that has bro- ken the Purdue record three times this season. "I had a really rough season being injured," Cox said. "This is my new season and my time to show what I am really made of. I'm ecstatic to have two records at the moment." Cox and Charlton are just a few of the standout athlete to come out of the Western Caribbean hotbed for track and field, undoubtedly the most popular sport in the Bahamas. Ten of the coun- try's 12 Olympic medals have come in track and field, most recently the gold medal in the 4 x 400 in the 2012 London games. "Track and field is it," said Greene, a native Bahamian himself. "They'll sell out a stadium a week before a track and field championship that's equivalent to a state championship in the U.S. It's a rich culture. The weather is conducive and it's a sport where kids who don't Carmiesha Cox Devynne Charlton Photos courtesy of Purdue