INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The Coastal Carolina track and field team will send 10 athletes to compete in eight events at next week's 2021 NCAA East Preliminaries in Jacksonville, Fla., May 26-29, announced by the NCAA today.
 
The Chanticleers will send eight women and two men to the University of North Florida for the four-day event. The competitors on the female side include Melissa Jefferson, Jermaisha Arnold, Amaryah White, Shani'a Bellamy, Keniah Wallace, Kayla Sweeney, Lauren Gordon, and Tariney Pepper. David Ejumeta and Braydon Bennett will look to earn championships for the men in Jacksonville.
 
WOMEN
 
Coastal Carolina sprinter Melissa Jefferson will lead the Chanticleer team into next week's national meet as she competes in three events, the 100 meters, 200 meters, and the 4x100. Jefferson earned the distinction of the highest-scoring individual with 22.5 points at the SBC Championships last weekend. The freshmen won SBC gold in all three events and on Wednesday she became the first Chanticleer to win the Sun Belt Conference Women's Outdoor Most Outstanding Track Performer, Most Outstanding Freshman, and Newcomer of the Year.
 
Individually, Jefferson pulled off the double-sprint win in the 100 meters and 200 meters last weekend, where she took down both school records. In the 100 meters, the freshman set the school record with a time of 11.22 (1.0), and then she capped off her memorable weekend in the 200 meters as she ran 22.96, the fastest in CCU history, the fastest in the Sun Belt this season, and the currently the 17th-fastest time in NCAA. Both times rank her in the top 50 in the world under the age of 20.
 
The 4x100 team, including Jefferson, and freshmen Jermaisha Arnold, Kayla Sweeney, and Keniah Wallace, earned a spot in Jacksonville with a qualifying time of 44.75, the fastest time in CCU history. 
 
Arnold and teammate Amaryah White will compete in two other events next week, including the 400 meters and the 4x400 relay.
 
The Myrtle, Beach, S.C., native, Arnold set a qualifying time back in mid-April at the Tom Jones Invitational, where she ran a school-record 52.63. Last weekend the freshman White earned third-place at the Sun Belt championships that earned her qualification into the first-round meet with a time of 53.97.
 
Also, in Mobile last weekend, Arnold and White, along with freshmen Lauren Gordon and Tariney Pepper, earned a season-best time of 3:38.70 in the 4x400-meter race to qualify for the NCAA first round.
 
Freshman Shani'a Bellamy rounds out the eight-woman team as she sets her sights on competing in the 400-meter hurdles. Bellamy cemented her qualification into next weekend's meet with a first-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles race at the SBC Championships, where she ran a personal-best time of 58.58.
 
MEN
 
For the men, David Ejumeta earned the distinction as the first Coastal athlete to win the Men's Outdoor Most Outstanding Field Performer with a record-setting jump of 7.97 meters. The distance gave him a berth into the first round competition, a CCU school record, a Sun Belt championship meet record and the 12th-best jump in the world.
 
Freshman hurdler Braydon Bennett will join Ejumeta on the men's side next weekend in Jacksonville. Bennett qualified for the 110-meter hurdles at Hodges Stadium when the two-sport athlete gave the Chanticleer men their second gold medal of the Sun Belt championships with a victory in the hurdles race a personal-record time of 13.77 (2.5). 

**Although he had qualifying times for the 2021 NCAA East Preliminaries, sophomore jumper Dallas Wise has elected to forego his opportunity next weekend in Jacksonville. However, Wise has excepted an opportunity to compete at the Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 in Minneapolis, Minn. The Irmo, S.C., native will start the jumping trials on June 17.**

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.