Coastal Carolina standout elevates to No. 8 all-time competitor in 100-meter dash under all conditions with wind-aided 10.69 performance to secure national title; First race in history with six female athletes achieving sub-10.90 efforts under all conditions

By Landon Negri for DyeStat 

EUGENE, Ore. – To some, the startling victory achieved by Melissa Jefferson at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships might have been a surprise.

The trained track and field eye likely saw this coming long before Friday’s final.

During a week littered with lightning-quick times in sprints, Jefferson, a senior at Coastal Carolina University, won the 100-meter championship in a wind-aided 10.69 seconds, just ahead of former LSU star Aleia Hobbs, who ran 10.72, and former USC standout Twanisha “Tee Tee” Terry, who was third in 10.74.

RESULTS | INTERVIEWS | MEET VIDEOS | PHOTOS by John Nepolitan | PHOTOS by Chuck Aragon

All three times were impressive, even with +2.9 m/s wind.

Jefferson became the No. 5 all-time American female competitor under all conditions. She also ascended to the No. 8 global performer in history under all conditions.

Jefferson was the 60-meter NCAA Division 1 Indoor champion in February, which was her breakout victory after entering the meet being seeded outside the top 10.

This win catapults her to the global elite, not just this year, but potentially for the future with similar performances July 15-24 at the World Championships at Hayward Field.

“I’ll say it’s sunk in a little bit, but at the same time, it’s kind of like, ‘Wow, did that really just happen?” Jefferson said. “I won’t say that I’m real surprised. It was one of my goals that I had listed down for this year was to compete at this meet and make Team USA and the World Championships. To that extent, I'm not surprised.”

The road to Friday’s win was still a journey. And some of her chief competition faltered.

While Jefferson won her first-round heat of the 100 on Thursday in 11.04 seconds, Sha’Carri Richardson finished fifth in another heat and was eliminated from the event.

In Friday’s semifinals, Jefferson finished a close second to Hobbs by the slimmest of margins (10.81 to 10.82) and easily qualified for that night’s final.

All eight qualifiers, in fact, went under 11.00 seconds. Puma’s Jenna Prandini ran a formidable 11.00 but didn’t advance.

Nike’s Teahna Daniels was even faster, but also missed qualifying by one-thousandth of a second by a 10.955 to 10.956 margin behind Brittany Brown.

In the final, Jefferson ran in lane 3, next to Hobbs in lane 4. She had a tremendous surge in the final 15 meters to overtake Hobbs and win the historically fast race.

It was the first 100 ever that had six women with sub-10.90 performances under all conditions.

And when she saw the 10.69 time?

“I was like, ‘Wow, that was crazy,” Jefferson said.

Three weeks ago, Jefferson finished a disappointing eighth in the 100 at the NCAA Championships, also held at Hayward Field. In addition, she was ninth in the 200 and was on Coastal Carolina’s 4x100 relay.

How quickly things turned around.

“I have the dedication and the heart,” Jefferson said, “and if you put in the time and do things the right way, anyone can see the results on the track.”

Now, she’s advanced to the World Championships in July, again at Hayward Field. She’ll also run the 4x100 relay as a summer that a few weeks ago looked like it could be empty has suddenly become a career-changer.

At NCAAs earlier in June, she vowed that she’d go back to the drawing board, “keeping my head down and focusing on getting back to work – like I always do.”

Apparently, it worked.

“One of the biggest things for me was trusting what I’ve been doing in practice and what I know I’m capable of.”

So now, literally, bring on the world.

“I’m so happy for her, I’m not even going to lie,” Hobbs said. “I’m happy for her – she’s doing what she needs to do.”