BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Coastal Carolina women's indoor track & field team wrapped up day one of the 2021 Sun Belt Conference Women's Indoor Track & Field Championships on Monday in Birmingham, Ala. with three top 15 individual finishes and six other Chanticleers qualifying for the finals on day two in four different events in the 60-meter hurdles, 60, 200, and 400-meter dash events.
 
In the field events on day one of the championships, sophomore Kadasia Evans recorded a ninth-place finish in the women's high jump event with a season-best mark of 1.64 meters, while freshmen Chants Kayla Ulmer and Zaria Stephens placed 28th and 32nd overall, respectively, in the women's long jump event with distances of 5.24 meters and 4.95 meters.
 
In the women's weight throw event, Coastal finished 23rd and 25th overall, as freshman Alexis Estep had a long throw of 13.75 meters while sophomore Kacey Lombard turned in a mark of 13.46 meters.
 
On the track, sophomore Melissa Jefferson set a new personal-best time of 7.42 in the 60-meter dash prelims to finish first and qualify for the finals on Tuesday. Her time is the second-fastest in school history behind only Erica Peake's time of 7.39 in 2013.
 
Jefferson also qualified for the finals in the 200-meter dash along with teammates Kayla Sweeney and Jermaisha Arnold. Jefferson finished third in the prelims on Monday with a time of 24.49, one spot in front of Sweeney and her personal-best time of 24.56, and five positions in front of Arnold who placed eighth to claim the final spot in the finals on Tuesday with her time of 24.66.
 
Also qualifying for the finals on day one was freshman Sydney Clemens (8.72) and sophomore Erin Palmer (8.77) with their fourth and eighth-place respective finishes in the 60-meter hurdles. Both their times rank in the top-10 on the CCU performance list, while Palmer's mark is a new personal best.
 
Two Chants will also move on to the finals in the 400-meters, Arnold had the best time of the prelims with a time of 55.32 while fellow freshman Amaryah White turned in a new personal-best time of 56.37 to place third overall. White's time is the seventh-fastest in the 400-meters in CCU history.
 
Freshman Shani'a Bellamy placed 17th in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.91 and 25th with a personal-best time of 25.17 in the 200-meter dash prelims, while Lauren Gordon (57.52), Tariney Pepper (57.84), and Amelia Canetto (1:01.30) finished 15th, 17th, and 28th overall, respectively, in the 400-meters. Pepper's time of 57.84 was a new personal record.
 
CCU's Sweeney (7.64) and Keniah Wallace (7.77) placed 13th and 24th overall in the 60-meter dash prelims with Wallace's time a new personal best, while sophomore Ashley Rulison ran to an 18th-place finish in the 5000-meters with her time of 19:23.98.
 
Day two of the championship meet will be tomorrow. The afternoon finals section of the championship meet will be streamed live on ESPN+ (subscription needed). Live results can be found by CLICKING HERE or by going to the Track & Field/Cross Country schedule page on www.GoCCUsports.com.

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