By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

MALIK Stuart couldn't close out his collegiate career any better than breaking one of the Bahamas' longest standing records - held by his mentor and former coach Bradley Cooper - in the men's shot put at the NAIA.

Elsewhere, Pedrya Seymour and Devynne Charlton are set for the NCAA Division One Outdoor Championships showdown next month in the women's 100 metre hurdles and will be joined by Brianne Bethel, Denzel Pratt, Serena Brown and Kaiwan Culmer in individual events.

The athletes highlighted the collegiate track and field competition over the weekend.

Stuart, inking his name in the record books, had a heave of 18.37 metres or 60-feet, 3¼-inches on his first attempt to highlight the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

In the process, erase the 39-year-old national record of 18.35m (60-2) that was set by Cooper on June 15, 1979, at the CAC Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico. Cooper still holds the discus record of 67.10m that he set here at home on June 14, 1986. "It's a surreal feeling breaking the outdoor national record. I'm still in disbelief," Stuart told The Tribune. "I've been chasing it for three years now and I'm just happy that I finally achieved the accomplishment.

"I felt that there's more inside of me. I want to take the record to new heights over the last few years. But I was just happy to have achieved it in that moment."

Following his record breaking toss, Stuart also had respective marks of 17.97 (58-11 ½), 17.76 (58-3 ¼), 18.25 (59-10 ½), 17.62 (57-9 ¾), 17.83 (58-6).

"The competition was the stiffest that it has ever been. We had two guys go over 60 feet," Stuart pointed out. "I took the lead with my new PR and record performance and my friend came back and took over the lead with his PR. It was the most competitive nationals that we've had."

His friend, Alex Washington, a senior at Hastings, surpassed him with his heave of 19.04m (62-53/4) on his 5th attempt to snatch the lead and the title from Stuart.

Prior to his record breaking performance, Stuart, a 20-year-old St John's College and Indiana Institute of Technology graduate, had a PR of 17.62. He said although he went through some adversities with a hand injury, he's particularly impressed with the tremendous improvement he made this year.

Now he's looking forward to moving to Saracuse, New York to work as a software engineer, while he continue his training to make the IAAF World Championship team next year in Doha, Qatar and eventually the Olympic Games in 2020 in Tokyo, Japan.

"Bradley Cooper was my high school coach, who got me started throwing and provided me with a lot of support when a lot of people didn't," Stuart reflected.

"I recently spoke to him and he admitted that he knew that I will eventually break the record, so it feels like the baton is being passed onto me. He's definitely supported me over the years and I'm happy to have him in my corner."

Stuart, the son of Marian Stuart-Dixon, thanked Cooper and his current coach Ashley Dewitt for getting him to where he's at right now.

Also at the meet were a few other Bahamians.

Antonishka Deveaux ran the second leg of Indiana Tech women's 4 x 400m team of Patience Kennedy, Lauren Edwards and Ayanna Moody that finished third in 3:46.86.

Deveaux also anchor Indiana Tech to victory in the 4 x 400m in 3:46.00.

Deveaux, however, got fourth in her heat of the women's 200m in 24.83 for 16th overall.

Aaliyah Brown, an Indiana Tech Jr, was seventh in her heat for the women's 100m in 12.55 for 30th overall.

NCAA West Regional at California State University in Sacramento:

• Texas' junior transfer Pedrya Seymour led the way in posting the fastest time of 12.80 in the women's 100m hurdles. She advanced out of the preliminary rounds with a time of 13.08.

Seymour, who previously competed for Illinois, also ran a member of Texas' 4 x 100m relay that qualified with a third place in 43.69.

• LaQuan Nairn, a sophomore at the University of Arkansas, was 30th overall in the men's long jump with a leap of 7.23m (23-8 ¾) as he failed to advance to the final.

NCAA East Regional at the Univertsity of South Florida in Tampa, Florida:

• Devynne Charlton, a red shirt senior at Purdue, had the second fastest qualifying time of 13.01 in the women's 100m hurdles as she prepare for the showdown with Seymour. Seymour also ran a wind-aided 12.82 in the heats.

• Brianne Bethel continue her impressive performance for the University of Houston. The Grand Bahamian sophomore advanced in both sprints, running 11.31 in for 11th in the 100m and 23.01 for ninth in the 200m.

• Denzil Pratt, a junipor at Liberty University, qualified third in the men's javelin with a toss of 74.22m (243-6). Grenada's Anderson Peters, a freshman of Mississippi State, won with 74.22m (243-6) and his team-mate senior Nicolas Quijera was second with 70.01m (229-8).

• Serena Brown, a sophomore at Texas A&M University, was eighth in the women's discus with her best toss of 53.87m (176-9).

• Kaiwan Culmer, a senior at Nebraska, was eighth in the men's triple jump with a leap of 15.85m to advance.

• Janae Ambrose, a junior at Auburn University, ran the lead off leg for her 4 x 100m team that qualified with the third best time overall in 43.20.

In her individual event, Ambrose was 23rd overall in the women's 200m, but it wasn't enough to get her into the next round.

• Xavier Coakley, also in his junior year at Auburn, ran the lead off leg as well in the men's 4 x 400m relay as they finished 12th overall in 3:08.30 to advance.

In his individual event, Coakley ran 13.95 in the heats of the men's 110m hurdles to advance to the quarterfinal. However, he false start and was unable to qualify for the NCAA final.

Also failing to advance out of the quarterfinals was Kirk Lewis, who ran a personal best of 13.95 in the preliminaries. His time of 14.42 wasn't fast enough for him to move on.

In the men's 100m, Cliff Resias, a senior at Southeast Louisiana, was 33rd overall in 10.47. He also contested the 200m where his time of 20.69 got him to the quarter-final where he did 21.13 for 23rd overall.

And in the men's 400m hurdles, Bronson Rolle, a freshman at Liberty, clocked 52.48 for 31st overall as he failed to advance.