JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jax State track and field team wrapped up the 2023 campaign at the ASUN Outdoor Championships held over the past three days at the University of North Florida.
 
The Gamecocks finished ninth as a team with 21 total points, just ahead of Bellarmine and host UNF.
 
Freshman Lydia Seals got the scoring started early in one of Thursday's opening events with a new personal-best throw in the javelin to reach the podium with a third-place throw of 41.12 meters. With the bronze, she made it back-to-back years Jax State earned medals in the ASUN javelin championship.
 
On the track, senior Ashton Coats made her mark in her final meet breaking her own school record with a 14.33 time in the 100-meter hurdle prelims to qualify for the finals. Just 13 months prior, she turned in the previous school mark with a 14.35 at UAB's Green and Gold Invite. Coats remained consistent with a similarly stellar 14.37 in Saturday's championship final to finish fifth overall. Coats also led JSU's contingent of 200-meter runners with a 24.99 finish ahead of teammates Leandra Custodio, Breanna Becerra and Maddie Holman, Custodio clocked a 25.53 time to set a personal best in the senior's final race.
 
Freshman Elsa Chan narrowly missed the podium with a 36:24.41 mark for fourth-place in the 10,000 meters to bring home five team points for the Gamecocks. The following night, Chan turned in a time of 11:30.90 to finished seventh in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a new personal best.
 
Taking over the helm of the Gamecock program midseason earlier this spring, first-year head coach Jeremy Provence was happy with his squad's efforts and noted how many personal best marks came during a championship environment.
 
"Most importantly, we found a way to score several points in events that could have gone either way. This is a great meet to build on going forward."
 
Collectively, JSU finished eighth as a team in the 400-meter relay with a finishing time of 49.01.
 
In the pole vault, JSU's trio of Kayley Stanley, Savannah Yates and Lennon Ibsen each cleared 3.51 meters, which proved to be the separating standard among the competition with six athletes finished there, while five others advanced higher. Through ties and split points, Stanley and Yates brought home three team points with their final marks.
 
In her final championship, senior Kirsen Gardner tossed the hammer 37.93 meters and tallied a distance of 10.77 meters in the shot put throw.