By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

DAVID Charlton, one of the most successful athletes turned coach in the Bahamas, will be returning to his alma mater for some unexpected business.

Charlton, head coach and founder of the Star Trackers Track Club, will be inducted into the Howard University Bison Express Hall of Fame September 26 in Washington, DC.

He is being honoured for his contribution in the men’s 400 metres hurdles as well as the 4 x 400m relay team during his tenure from 1979-84.

“I am elated about it. It was a big surprise,” said Charlton when asked about his selection. “I’m honoured to be recognised by my university. All on my mind was representing the university and having fun and completing my education. Really and truly, it’s not something that was on my mind, crossed my mind or even a consideration since coming home and working here.

“When I got the call, it was a big surprise. In fact, I didn’t even tell my wife (Laura) that they were considering me because I figured that I wouldn’t even make it. Then I got the news that my name was accepted. I’m going in with people like (American hurdler) David Oliver, who is a great Olympian. So I’m elated just to be on the same list as him.”

During his career at Howard University, Charlton was a member of the 1982 4 x 400m relay team that set a new NCAA record, was the 1983 Penn Relays 400m hurdles champion, three time most outstanding performer at the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and a three-time All-American.

“My career is something that I would never change,” said Charlton, who credits Grand Bahamian coaches Anita Doherty and the late Errol Bodie, veteran national team coach Keith Parker and his Bison coach, the late William ‘Bill’ Moultrie, along with the Bahamas Amateur Association of Athletic Associations for their assistance.

“I may not have won any of the big Olympics or World Championship medals, but what I did get from Howard University was a degree that enabled me to come home and establish myself in my career, get married and raise a family and have a successful business. So overall, I wouldn’t change a thing. I enjoyed my college life. Just to be a college athlete getting a degree was an achievement.”

Charlton, accompanied by his wife Laura, whom he works closely with in the Star Trackers Track Club as well as their business, The Prescription Parlour Pharmacy, is scheduled to leave town on Thursday, September 25 for the weekend of activities that is being planned by Howard University.

While there, Charlton will be attending a memorial service for Moultrie, the former head track and field coach and athletic director at Howard University during his tenure there.

Moultrie, a member of the Howard University Athletics Hall of Fame and the USA Track Hall of Fame, served as head coach from 1973 until 1999 and brought the programme to international prominence. He won 10 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championships during his 26-year tenure as Howard’s head coach.

Highly respected in the profession, Moultrie produced an impressive 71 indoor and outdoor NCAA Division I track and field All-Americans. Several would go on to qualify for the Olympic trials for their respective countries.

The versatile Moultrie also served as assistant football coach for the Bison from 1973 until 1982 and later as Director of Athletics from 1986-90. During his time at Howard, Moultrie began a long association with the Olympics. He was an Olympic assistant coach in 1992 and became the first African American to serve as Olympic track referee four years later in Atlanta.