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App State’s Peighton Simmons and Coastal Carolina’s Melissa Jefferson each turned in record-breaking performances and have garnered Sun Belt Conference Women’s Track & Field Weekly Honors.

Women’s Track Athlete of the Week
Melissa Jefferson, Coastal Carolina
(Jr., Sprints, Georgetown, S.C.)

Chanticleers’ junior sprinter Melissa Jefferson started off the 2022 indoor season at the Gamecock Indoor Opener, setting a new school record with a first-place time of 7.29 in the 60-meter dash. She first set the school record in the prelims with a time of 7.35 and then went on to smash the previous CCU record of 7.39 held by Erica Peake (2013) with her first-place time of 7.29 in the finals. Jefferson’s time of 7.29 in the 60-meters ranks first in the Sun Belt and sixth nationally this season.

Women’s Field Athlete of the Week
Peighton Simmons, App State
(Gr., Jumps, High Point, N.C.)

Mountaineers’ graduate student Peighton Simmons broke the Holmes Center record at the App State Invite with a triple jump mark of 13.11m/43-0.25, cruising to a first-place victory. Currently, her triple jump mark ranks first in the Sun Belt and eighth in the nation this season. Her record-breaking mark smashed the Holmes Center’s previous record by nearly three feet. The previous record was 40-6.25, which was held by Ronda White in 2006. Simmons’ record also marked the second-longest indoor triple jump in program history. In the long jump, Simmons posted a PR of 6.06m/19-10.75, propelling herself to her second individual first-place effort at the App State Invite. Simmons’ long jump mark also ranks first in the conference this season.

2022 Sun Belt Women’s Track Athlete of the Week
Week 1 – Melissa Jefferson, Coastal Carolina

2022 Sun Belt Women’s Field Athlete of the Week
Week 1 – Peighton Simmons, App State