The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers picked up a transfer portal commitment from the fastest female runner in St. Michael Catholic history, Latiana Acker.

Also the Cardinals’ most decorated sprinter, Acker closed her high school career with three gold medals in each of her final two trips to the AHSAA outdoor state championships. She also broke a Class 4A state meet record in both years.

Acker wasted no time setting records as a freshman with the South Alabama Jaguars and registered the program’s best 60-meter dash time in history at the Sun Belt Conference Indoor Championships with a 7.57.

She similarly got out of the gates hot for the outdoor season and won the 200-meter dash at the South Alabama Invitational with a time of 24.27. At the conference meet, she ran her best 400-meter dash time of 54.83 which ranks fourth in the Jaguar record book.

Not long after her freshman outdoor season ended, she announced her entrance into the transfer portal on May 26 and was sure to share her appreciation for all the support she received.

“Your encouragement and belief in my abilities have been a driving force in my success. To the coaches, staff, and teammates who have been instrumental in my development, I am humbly grateful for the roles you have played in my development as an athlete and as an individual,” Acker wrote in May. “Moving forward without my team is one of the most difficult aspects of this decision. The bonds we have made through countless hours of training and competing together are irreplaceable. I will always cherish the friendships and the sense of family we built on and off the track.”

However, she won’t be going too far as Coastal Carolina also competes in the Sun Belt Conference. The Chanticleers had 11 athletes compete at the NCAA East Regionals as the national preliminary meet.

Melissa Jefferson helped build the sprinting blueprint at Coastal Carolina where she became the program’s first athlete to win a national championship with gold in the indoor 60-meter dash at 7.09 as a junior in 2022. She followed it up that summer with another national victory at the Toyota USA Track Outdoor Championships in the 100-meter dash at 10.69.

Most recently, Jefferson punched her ticket to Paris for the 2024 Olympics with a 10.80 for second place in the 100-meter dash trials.

Acker’s sights can now shift toward chasing down some of Jefferson’s marks along with other top Chanticleers as she continues to follow her own path.

“As I transition into this new chapter, I am filled with excitement for the new opportunities and challenges that lie ahead,” Acker wrote. “I have faith that God will guide me in the right direction and I trust in His perfect plan.”