LYNCHBURG, VA. – Freshman sprinter Melissa Jefferson highlighted day two of the Liberty Kickoff for the Coastal Carolina Chanticleer Indoor Track and Field team as she produced two of the top 10 times in school history in the 60 and 200 meters.
Jefferson picked up the win in the 60-meter dash as she marked a time of 7.55. It was the first time since 2013 that a Coastal Carolina sprinter earned a win in the 60 meters since CCU Hall of Famer Erica Peake took the win at the Virginia Tech Qualifier.
Jefferson's time on Saturday was the fifth-best time in school history, behind Peake's 7.39. It also places her third in the 2020 Sun Belt Indoor Track and Field rankings this season.
The freshman used her emotional high to propel her to another excellent finish in the 200 meters later in the afternoon.
The Georgetown, S.C., native placed 2nd in the 200-meter race with a time of 24.87, marking a personal best, the fifth-best time in the Sun Belt, and the 10th-best time in school history.
Fellow freshmen Tariney Pepper and Madison Jones also competed in the 200 meters. The two sprinters would go onto earn personal record times of 26.03 and 26.39, respectively.
Louise Tocays of Kennesaw State earned the victory with a time of 24.74.
For the second-straight week, Hesmari Coetzee picked up a second-place finish in the 400 meters. The senior would end the race with a time of 56.47 just shy of her 56.27 mark of a week ago that gave her the sixth-best time in school history. Also competing in the 400 meters was Pepper. The freshman runner earned a top 25 finish with a time of 59.92, eclipsing her previous best by .97 seconds. Fellow Chanticleer Guerdine Michel made her debut in the 400 meters as placed 47th out of 61 with a time of 1:03.51.
Cortney Strohmann of Liberty earned the win in the 400 meters with a time of 55.06.
In the 60-meter hurdles, Coastal's Erin Palmer earned a personal best mark of 9.23 meters, good for ninth-place. The freshman improved her personal record result by .11 meters from a week ago in Columbia, S.C. Junior Erica Evans saw her first action of the season where she finished in 28th-place with a time of 9.55.
Kadasia Evans' 1.65 meters in the high jump earned her a tie for fourth-place. In the second high jump event of her young career, the freshman improved her personal best by .02 meters. It also gave the freshman the 10th-best in school history and fifth-best jump in the Sun Belt this season.
Julija Travide of Kennesaw State won the high jump as she cleared the height of 1.70 meters.
Two freshmen led the Chanticleers on the day in the long jump with personal best distances.
Jaquoia Williams' distance of 5.45 meters was .01 meters better than her mark at last week's Gamecock Opener. The Moncks Corner, S.C., native mark was good for ninth-place. Fellow freshman Camryn Luyckx's 5.16 meters was good for 26th-place, also better than last weekend's Gamecock Opener mark by .42 meters.
Also competing in the long jump was Chant Kelsia Moore. The sophomore finished 39th out of 54 competitors, where she reached a distance of 4.74 meters.
Indiana Tech's Destiny Copeland took the win in the long jump with a mark of 5.90 meters.
Moore competed in the triple jump later in the afternoon, where she earned a top 25 finish with a personal best distance of 10.97 meters.
Makenzy Mizera of Liberty earned the win with the event-best 12.36 meters.
The CCU freshmen trio of Ty-Layshia West, Kacey Lombard, and Shareya Newsome represented their team in the shot put. West earned her first career top 10 finish with a throw of 12.72 meters. West's 10th-place finish was 1.22 meters better than last weekend's mark of 11.50 meters. Lombard and Newsome finished 21st and 22nd respectively, with throws of 11.62 meters and 11.40 meters. Newsome also improved her personal best distance by .01 meters.
Taking first-place in the shot put was Naomi Mojica of the host school Liberty. Mojica topped the second-place thrower by .37 meters with a throw of 14.69 meters.
Coastal Carolina will return Columbia, S.C. for the second time in three weeks on Jan. 31-Feb.1 when they take part in the Carolina Challenge.
For complete coverage of CCU Cross Country and Track and Field, follow the Chanticleers on social media at @CoastalTFXC(twitter), @GoCCUSports (Instagram), and facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook) or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at goccusports.com.
