BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The Jax State track and field program tallied a total of six top-ten marks, including five top-five performances in program history at the Samford Invitational on Friday at the Birmingham Crossplex.

"Overall, I was really happy with the progress from our meet we had in December," head coach Jeremy Provence said. "Sometimes, it's a little tricky coming off Christmas Break and you never really know how it's going to go. I thought we had a really good showing today; the team was fit, and the execution was both good and bad which is expected after a break."

Kicking off the day, the Gamecocks had five different athletes achieve personal bests in the 60-meter prelims including Jailah Loving, Ella-Grace Edwards, Nicola Peters, Amber Bailey and Emma Drinkard
Both Loving and Edwards found their way into the record books, with Loving recording the fourth fastest time in program history at 7.68 and Edwards claiming the seventh fastest with 7.69.

Overall, the Gamecocks had 10 top-10 finishes in the 12 events it competed in on Friday, along with 10 athletes achieving personal bests in the outing. Claudia Marquez Contreras and Amber Bailey combined for three of four top-five finishes for Jax State.

Marquez Contreras started her afternoon off with a stellar performance in the women's 800-meter, claiming second place with a time of 2:12.33. Her finish ranks as the second-fastest time in school history, along with the 41^st best time in the NCAA so far in the indoor season and the 33^rd best time in Division I during the indoor slate.

Later, Marquez finished her day as a part of the women's 4x400-meter, alongside Katie Coenjarts, Erin Foley and Rania Gabrielle Yousef Moreno who finished fifth in the event with a time of 4:01.70.

Bailey shined during the 400-meter, racing to a 55.80 finish which was enough to earn fourth-place. Also tallying a top-five finish was Tierra Agee who picked up fifth-place in the long jump with a distance of 5.54m (18-2.25). Theresa Lukas had a solid performance as well, finishing eighth in the event, recording a distance of 5.33m (17-6.00).

Also having an eventful day in the field events was Chaci Whitfield who competed in three total events, including the high jump, long jump and the 60-meter hurdles in which she achieved a personal best.

 "She had a really good day, starting the tone in the 60 hurdles and then came close to a personal best in long jump and had a solid showing in high jump," said Provence of Whitfield. "I think she did a lot today and we saw a lot of positive results in the events she competed in, especially early in the season."

Cheyenne Hill achieved a sixth-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.67 in the event.

"Cheyenne is coming off a school record that she set in December in the 60 hurdles," Provence said. "She came back today and made another final and ran an 8.67 which is really close to what she ran in December. So, it was a really good meet for her."

The Gamecocks had multiple notable performances in distance running, with Viola Jepleting finishing in seventh-place in the one mile, running it in 4:58.03, giving her second-fastest time in program history and the 79^th best time in Division I for the indoor season.

Additionally, Mercy Jebet tallied a new personal best in the 3000m, finishing at 10:00.65 to earn eighth-place while Jepkirui Kurgoi was right behind her with a 10:09.64 personal best to earn 10^th. Jebet and Kurgoi set their place in the record books as the second and fourth fastest times, respectively.

"Viola, in the mile, came out and had a chance to win her heat; I thought she ran really well and ended up with the second-fastest time in school history," said Provence. "Claudia in the 800-meter also had the second-fastest time in her first meet with us as a freshman. Also, I thought Mercy's performance in the 3000-meter was great. All three of them are freshman in their first and second meets of their career and they ran great."

The Gamecocks continue its indoor track and field season on Jan. 30 and 31 at the Lenny Lyles Invitational inside the Norton Sports & Learning Center in Louisville, Kentucky.