ATLANTA, Ga. - Brycelyn Townsend didn't take long to make her mark.

In her first season at Belhaven, the freshman hurdler put together one of the top seasons in the conference in hurdle events and was named the 2026 CCS Women's Track & Field Female Rookie of the Year.

Townsend built her season week by week, getting faster and more consistent every time out. By the end of the spring, she owned the top time in the CCS in the 100-meter hurdles and was right near the top in the 400 hurdles as well.

Her breakthrough came early at the Belhaven Invitational, where she ran a personal-best 15.69 in the 100 hurdles. That time held up as the fastest in the conference all season and showed what she was capable of right away. From there, she kept tightening things up. She won the event at the Belhaven Mid Week Challenge in 16.92, then dropped to 16.29 at the Southern Miss Invitational. A week later at the Rhodes 7-Way Meet, she was down again at 15.96.

By the time the CCS Championships rolled around, she was ready. Townsend delivered when it mattered most, winning the 100 hurdles title in 15.92. It wasn't her fastest time of the year, but it was enough to control the race and bring home a conference championship in her first appearance.

She backed that up with a big run in the 400 hurdles, finishing second with a personal-best 1:07.95. Earlier in the season, she was running in the 1:14 range. By April, she had cut that down significantly and turned it into one of the top marks in the league.

She also played a key role on Belhaven's 4x400 relay team that won the conference title in 4:12.90, adding another first-place finish to her weekend.

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