Coker Lands Three on USTFCCCA All-Region Team

HARTSVILLE, S.C. – Coker College women's track and field members Noelia Leake, Briana Nixon and Charity Snelling were all named to the 2016 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) southeast All-Region team for the outdoor track and field season the association announced today. Leake earned the honor in the 200-meter dash, while Nixon was named for her performance this season in the 400-meter dash. Snelling earned the accolade in both the 400-meter hurdles and the high jump.

Leake notched 12 top-10 finishes in the 2016 outdoor season, including four top-10 finishes in the 200-meter dash and a win at the Lenoir-Rhyne University Powersox Invitational. Her best time of the season came at the Johnson C. Smith University Invitational, where she posted a 24.84 time in the 200-meter. That time landed her second on the Track and Field Results Reporting System performance list in the South Atlantic Conference.

Leake is a sophomore from Clinton, S.C. and is the daughter of Omega Judge and Willie Leake and Jennifer Johnson. She is a sports management major.

Nixon, freshman from Decatur, Ga. also collected 12 top-10 finishes this season, four of which came in the 400-meter dash, including at win in the 400-meter at the Braves Track Classic. Her best time of the season came at the South Atlantic Conference Championship meet, where she ran a time of 57.34 and finished second. That time was good enough for third on the SAC performance list.

Nixon is the daughter of Claudetter Lowe and Ronnie E. Nixon. She is an exercise science major with a pre-physical therapy concentration.

Snelling earned 17 top-10 finishes, five of which came in the 400-meter hurdles, while she also had five in the high jump, including wins in the high jump at the Lenoir-Rhyne Powersox Invitational, the Braves Track Classic and the Wingate University Invitational. In the hurdles, her best time of 1:03.86 came at the South Atlantic Conference Championship, where she finished second. Her time also landed her the No. 2 spot on the SAC performance list.

In the high jump, Snelling posted leaps of 1.60, 1.62 and 1.63 meters in her three wins. Her top distance of 1.67 meters came in a runner-up finish at the SAC Championship meet. That showing also placed her at No. 2 on the SAC performance list.

She is from Franklinton, N.C. and is the daughter of Vanessa and Benjamin Snelling. She is an education major, with a concentration in early childhood education.