LAFAYETTE, La. – The third and final day of the 2022 Sun Belt Outdoor Track & Field Championships proved to be a very noteworthy one for the Coastal Carolina men's and women's track & field programs, as a plethora of records were shattered.
 
The women's team finished second in the team championship standings, the best finish since joining the Sun Belt in 2017, with 136 points just behind the overall winner Arkansas State, while the men's team placed ninth with 43 total points and behind overall winner South Alabama.
 
On the women's side, Melissa Jefferson shattered a handful of records.  In the 4x100 meter relay alongside teammates Kayla Sweeney, Shani'a Bellamy, and Jermaisha Arnold, the quartet picked up the win and broke both the meet and Sun Belt records for the event with a time of 43.79, which also is the second-best time in CCU history.
 
During the 100- and 200-meter events, Jefferson tallied two more victories while breaking two Sun Belt, two meet, and two facility records and setting a new CCU record.  In the 100-meters, she crossed the line in 10.88 seconds, a new Sun Belt and CCU record time in the spring event. She also posted a first-place time of 22.48 in the 200-meters, narrowly missing her school-record time set earlier this season by .02 seconds.
 
Mekenze Kelley claimed the top spot in the 400-meters with a time of 51.98, which is a new personal best, facility, meet, and school record, while Arnold notched a silver medal in the event with a time of 52.21.  Kelley also posted a runner-up finish in the 200-meters, finishing behind only Jefferson with a time of 22.78, which is the second-fastest time for the event in CCU history.
 
It was all Chants in the 100-meter hurdles, as they swept the podium.  Alexis Glasco finished in 13.16 seconds, which set a new facility record and was just .01 off her CCU record time, to claim first-place honors, while Bellamy followed in second at 13.42 and Sydney Clemens in third at 13.72. Both set new personal bests in the event, while Bellamy's time is the third-best time in CCU lore, while Clemens' is the sixth-fastest.
 
Bellamy also earned a fifth-place finish in both the 100-meters (11.50) and 400-meter hurdles (1:00.25), while Amilia Wise-Sweat finished sixth in the 800 meters (2:18.58).
 
In the final event, the 4x400 meter relay team of Amelia Canetto, Lauren Gordon, Glasco, and Arnold earned the gold medal with a time of 3:36.43, which is the fourth-fastest in program history.
 
Aside from the records above and over the three days for the Chants, Molly Jones notched a pair of top-five finishes, as she picked up a third-place finish (17:53.98) in the 5000-meters and a fourth-place finish (4:38.74) in the 1500-meters.
 
On Friday, Nikki Boon's 5,061 points in the heptathlon was good enough for third-place overall and also set the new benchmark in CCU history for that event, while Kynnedy Dennis placed fifth overall in the pole vault event with a mark of 3.72 meters on Thursday.
 
On the men's side, Tyler Graves finished second in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 50.50, which is a new personal best and program record.  He picked up another silver medal in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 13.79.
 
In the 4x100 meter relay, the team of Reggie Barlow, DeVonte Harris, Ty Floyd, and Garrett Wilkins came home third with a time of 40.21, which is both a season-best and the third-best time in CCU history. Floyd, Jeremiah Talbert, Wilkins, and Graves also earned a spot on the podium with their third-place finish in the 4x400 meter relay with their time of 3:09.90.
 
Talbert also came home sixth in the 400-meters with a season-best time of 47.89, while Barlow notched a fourth-place finish in the 100-meters with his season-best time of 10.34. 
 
CCU also picked up a top-10 finish in the high jump event, as Jens Rueckert Jr. finished sixth in the high jump with a leap of 2.03 meters.
 
Women's Team Standings
1. Arkansas State – 157
2. Coastal Carolina – 136
3. UT Arlington – 120
4. Texas State – 77
5. Louisiana – 72
6. South Alabama – 59.5
T-7. App State – 51
T-7. ULM – 51
9. Georgia State – 36
10. Troy – 35.5
 
Women's Results
Triple Jump
12. Keiran Martin – 11.43M (PB)
15. Kayla Ulmer – 11.36M (Season Best)
18. Kadasia Evans – 10.47M
 
4x100 Meter Relay
1. Kayla Sweeney, Shani'a Bellamy, Jermaisha Arnold, Melissa Jefferson – 43.79 (Meet Record) (Sun Belt Record) 

1500-Meters
4. Molly Jones – 4:38.74
 
100-Meter Hurdles
1.  Alexis Glasco – 13.15 (Facility Record)
2.  Shani'a Bellamy – 13.42 (PB)
3.  Sydney Clemens – 13.72 (PB)
 
400-Meters
1.  Mekenze Kelley – 51.98 (PB) (Facility Record) (Meet Record) (CCU Record)
2.  Jermaisha Arnold – 52.21
7.  Amaryah White – 56.24
 
100-Meters
1.  Melissa Jefferson – 10.88 (PB) (Facility Record) (Meet Record) (SBC Record) (CCU Record)
5.  Shani'a Bellamy – 11.50
7.  Kayla Sweeney – 11.72
 
800-Meters
6. Amilia Wise-Sweat – 2:18.58
 
400-Meter Hurdles
5. Shani'a Bellamy – 1:00.25
 
200-Meters
1. Melissa Jefferson – 22.48 (Facility Record) (Meet Record) (Sun Belt record)
2. Mekenze Kelley – 22.78 (PB)
8. Jermaisha Arnold – 23.86
 
5000-Meters
3.  Molly Jones – 17:53.98
7.  Meagan Moreno – 18:08.77
 
4x400 Meter Relay
1. Amelia Canetto, Lauren Gordon, Alexis Glasco, Jermaisha Arnold – 3:36.43 (Meet Record) (Facility Record) (fourth-best time in CCU History) 

Men's Overall Team Standings
1. South Alabama – 148.5 points
2. Arkansas State – 137
3. Texas State – 107
4. UT Arlington – 94
5. Louisiana – 86.5
6. App State – 58
7. Troy – 54
8. Little Rock – 52
9. Coastal Carolina – 43
10. ULM 37
 
Men's Results
Triple Jump
10. David Ejumeta – 14.20M (PB)
 
Discus
11. Major Chestnut – 46.93M (Season Best)
15. Michael Martello – 41.63M
 
High Jump
6. Jens Rueckert Jr. – 2.03M
 
4x100 Meter Relay
3.  Reggie Barlow/DeVonte Harris/Ty Floyd/Garrett Wilkins – 40.21 (Season Best) (Third-best time in CCU history)
 
110-Meter Hurdles
2.  Tyler Graves – 13.79
 
400-Meters
6. Jeremiah Talbert – 47.89 (Season Best)
 
100-Meters
4. Reggie Barlow – 10.34 (Season Best)
 
400-Meter Hurdles
2. Tyler Graves – 50.50 (PB) (CCU Record)
 
200-Meters
8. DeVonte Harris – 21.19
 
5000-Meters
10. Garrett Bivens – 15:08.42
 
4x400 Meter Relay
3. Floyd/Talbert/Wilkins/Graves – 3:09.90
 
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