Caitlyn Bobb rewrote the record books competing for the University of Maryland, Baltimore County at the Penn State National Open at the weekend.

The Bermudian sprinter set a new school and national indoor record on the way to victory in the women’s 400 metres in a time of 54:86 secs.

Bobb’s time eclipsed the previous national 400 indoor record of 55:71, which she already held, and school record of 55:80 set by Kirsten Jones in 2013.

The freshman also won the 200 metres event in 24:44 to complete an impressive double at the meet held at University Park, Pennsylvania.

Bobb’s times in the 200 and 400 also qualified her for the 2022 Carifta Games to be held in Jamaica from April 16 to 18.

“It’s not a surprise to me what she is running,” Devon Bean, the Bermuda National Athletics Association director of athletics and former Olympic sprinter, told The Royal Gazette. “It’s how early she did it, that’s the big surprise.

“It’s still kind of early but it goes to show what type of shape she’s in. You have basically two more months of indoor which has just kicked off so who knows what’s in store for her.

“Caitlyn has shown promise for the past three to four years and is steadily improving.”

Bobb started her collegiate career off with a bang after storming to victory in the 500 metres on her school debut at the 2021-22 season opening Navy Invitational.

Her winning time of 1:14.14 is the fifth fastest in her school’s history and the fifth fastest in the nation. The time also earned her America East Female Track Performer of the Week accolades and punched her ticket for the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships.

Bobb then built upon her solid start to the season with victory in the 300 metres at the Penn State Nittany Lion Challenge with a time of 39:39 sec respectively.

“Caitlyn is in great form,” Freddie Evans, the BNAA president, said. “She’s ranked fifth in the NCAA indoors for 500 metres in America right now, which means she will probably get an invitation to indoor nationals, where we hope she continues to do her thing and take it to another level.”

Bobb is managed by her mother, Dawnette, who represented Bermuda at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, where she placed sixth in her 100 metres heat in 12.05 and sixth in the 200 heat in 25.03.

“Caitlyn is a warrior and she’s in an environment where her parents are nearby to nurture her growth so we’re expecting good things from this young developing star,” Evans added. “This is big news for Bermuda.”

Bobb enjoyed considerable success competing at varsity level in the United States for Harford Technical High School.

She has also thrived competing internationally for Bermuda having won gold medals in the 200 and 400 at the NACAC under-18 and under-23 Championships in Queretaro, Mexico, in 2019.

She also won the gold medal in the girls under-17 400 metres and was a member of the island’s victorious 4x100 relay team on her debut at the Carifta Games in Grand Cayman the same year.

Bobb also won gold medals in the 200 and 400 at the AAU Indoor Championships in Landover, Maryland, also in 2019. Her time of 57.44 in the 400 was a new meet record.

More recently, Bobb was the island’s lone representative at the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya, last summer where she was disqualified from the 400 metres heats for stepping out of her lane.

She qualified for the championships on the way to victory in the 400 competing at the Maryland State High School Championships, where she was also victorious in the 100 and 200.