COLUMBIA, S.C. - The Coastal Carolina indoor track and field team opened up their season on Friday at the South Carolina Indoor Track and Field Complex with the Gamecock Opener. CCU would end the day with sophomore Katie Bond, senior Hesmari Coetzee, freshman Jaquoia Williams, and red shirt junior Cera Chavez earning top 10 finishes.
Bond finished in second-place of the pole vault competition as she cleared the height of 3.05 meters, giving her a new personal best. Sandra Brown of N.C. A&T took the win with a mark of 3.55 meters.
In the long jump, the Chanticleers had three of their four athletes record distances on the day. Jaquoia Williams was the leading CCU finisher as her third jump of four traveled a distance of 5.44 meters, good for seventh-place. Williams was one of nine athletes on the day to top the facility record that was set at 5.37 meters.
Also competing in the long jump for Coastal was Kelsia Moore, Neshia Hamilton and Camryn Luyckx. The sophomore Moore finished in 22nd-place as she reached a distance of 4.97 meters. Hamilton also earned a 27th-place finish with a jump of 4.85 meters, and Luyckx followed two spots behind with a mark of 4.74 meters. Freshman Jenny Koehne of Queens (N.C.) took first-place with a distance of 5.86 meters.
Hesmari Coetzee finished in 10th-place of the 400 meters with a first-place finish in the seventh of the event's 22 flights. The Riebeeckstad, South Africa native, earned a time of 56.27 behind event winner Doneisha Anderson's (Florida) time of 52.83. Freshmen Melissa Jefferson and Tariney Pepper also competed in the 400 meters and finished 26th (58:14) and 53rd (1:00.89) respectively.
Senior Alyssa LeClaire was the lone CCU runner in the mile run, and the veteran earned herself a top 15 finish on the day with a time of 5:17.06, good for 13th-place. Anna Vess of N.C. State took the win with a time of 4:54.06.
Three Chanticleer freshmen weight throwers competed in the first event of their collegiate careers. Ty-Layshia West was the leading Coastal thrower as she ended her day with a mark of 12.78 meters. Coming in 34th-place was Kacey Lombard. The CCU rookie recorded a distance of 11.71 meters, and rounding out the day for the squad was Shareya Newsome. Newsome ended the day in 47th-place with a mark of 9.77 meters.
Kayla Beasley of N.C. State took first-place in the weight throw with a toss 16.15 meters.
In the shot put, CCU had two of their four athletes finish inside the top 15. Nikki Boon was the leading Chanticleer finisher as the freshman finished in 12th-place with a throw of 11.75 meters. Just behind Boon in 13th-place was fellow freshman Kacey Lombard as she finished with a distance of 11.69 meters.
CCU freshmen West and Newsome finished 21st and 34th respectively with distances of 11.50 meters and 10.39 meters.
N.C. State's Beasley earned the win in the shot put and her second overall win on the day with a distance of 13.50 meters.
Redshirt junior Cera Chavez competed in her first event after transferring from the Memphis. The Coastal sprinter took fifth-place overall in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.82. Earlier in the day Chavez competed in the prelims where she finished with a time of 7.78, marking the second time in the competition the redshirt junior would breaking the South Carolina Indoor Track and Field Complex record. She was one of seven runners to achieve that feat.
The Chanticleers will wrap-up the the final day of the Gamecock Opener with events slated to begin at 10 a.m. EST on Saturday.
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