Soyini Thompson joined the Charleston Southern coaching staff Head Women's Track and Field Coach in the summer of 2016 and is beginning her tenth season leading the program. She works primarily with the men's and women's sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers.
Thompson came to the Buccaneers after serving from 2003-2016 as the Assistant Women's and Men's Track & Field and Cross Country Coach at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. During her tenure with the Buccaneers she has coached 78 Big South Conference Champions, as well as 233 athletes that have received All-Conference recognition and 23 NCAA Preliminary qualifiers. She has led the teams to a combined 14 top three finishes in the conference championships including second-place finish in the 2021, 2024 and 2025 women’s outdoor meet, their best placements at it since 2008 as well as men's and women's second-place finishes at the 2024 and 2025 indoor championships, the highest-ever in women's program history.
During the 2025 outdoor season, the women's squad finished as the runner-ups at the meet and had a pair of student-athletes advance to the NCAA Regionals in Austyn Koppe (100m Hurdles) and Grenisha Thomas (400m Hurdles) with Thomas going to the semifinals for the event. They claimed the titles in the 100m and 400m hurdles with the Buccaneers sweeping the podium in the 100m hurdles with Koppe winning, Maeva Tahou in second and Chloe Mae Wilks in third. In the 400m hurdles, Thomas won the title while Koppe claimed second and Brenda du Toit took fourth. In those events, the new second and third fastest times in school history were recorded with Thomas' 57.98 ranking as fourth-best in league history and Koppe's 13.36 as the fifth-best.
The 2025Â indoor season saw the men's and women's squads each finish as the conference runners-up. She coaches student-athletes to four event championships including Luciano Custodio (400m), Chloe Greene (Long Jump & Pent.) and women's 4x400m relay squad. At the Big South Championships, Greene totaled 3725 points for a new school record and the fourth-best performance in Big South history in the pentathlon. Additionally, as a team, the women's squad collected 167 points for their highest total in a single season in school history.
In the 2024 outdoor season, she led the women's team to a second-place finish, matching the squad's best in program history. She had three of her student-athletes advance to the NCAA Regionals at the end of the season in Luciano Custodio (400m hurdles), Shawn Langley Jr (400m) and Amaya Johnson (400m). During the season she coached Amaya Johnson to a school record in the 400m, Chloe Greene to a school record in the long jump and compiled the 4x400m squad which also broke the school record in the event. Additionally, there were five performances by the Buccaneers that now rank within the top ten in all-time Big South history.
During the 2024 indoor season, she was named the Big South Women's Coach of the Year, the first recipient in CSU history. Additionally, she led the team to a second-place finish at the meet, the highest they have ever placed in program history. At the meet, she saw five CSU athletes crowned as Conference Champions including Destiny Wallace (60m), Chloe Greene (Pent.), Dylann Core (400m), Shawn Langley Jr. (400m) and the women's 4x400m relay squad. They totaled 151 points on the women's side of it, the most they have ever scored.
She helped lead the team to a pair of third-place finishes in each of the Big South track championships during the 2023 year, continuing a strong stretch of finishes since her arrival. The outdoor season saw the team send the women’s 4x100m team to the NCAA Regionals along with Luciano Custodio for the 400m hurdles and Shawn Langley Jr. for the 400m. One of the season highlights was seeing the women’s 4x400 team break the school record in the event, running it in 3:39.54.
Two Big South Champions were coached by Thompson in the 2022 outdoor season. Chloe Greene set a school record of 4988 in the heptathlon on her way to winning the event's title while Jewel Ash took the 400m hurdles crown with a time of 57.92 in the finals after setting a school record in the prelims at 57.16.
The 2021 spring season saw a second-place finish for the Bucs at the Big South Outdoor Championships collecting 137 points behind five event titles (Amy Yarborough, Shot Put; Amanda Obijiaku, 100m; Jewel Ash, 400m Hurdles; 4x100 team of Ash, Obijiaki, Chaneal Harris and Destiny Wallace; 4x400 team of Ash, Obijiaku, Caroline Edmondson and Dylann Core).
Ash and Obijiaku's performances at the 2021 Outdoor Championships earned Co-Freshmen of the Year in the Big South becoming just the third and fourth rookies to earn the accolade in program history. Senior distance runner Taylor Barnes also earned Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year making it three-straight seasons a Buccaneer has earned the accolade. Timothy Davis also won the Men's Long Jump and placed second in the Triple Jump and Shawn Langley Jr. took home gold in the 400m event.
Headlined by Caroline Edmondson's individual accolades, the Charleston Southern women's track team continued its climb of the Big South power rankings placing among the top-four in both the Outdoor and Indoor Big South Championships. Edmondson earned the Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year in both Indoor and Outdoor while being named to the CoSIDA/Google Cloud Academic All-District and All-America teams. The Bucs placed third among the Big South during the Indoor Championships and saw a fourth-place finish in the Outdoor Championship meet at Winthrop with numerous individual podium athletes.
Thompson's second season with the Bucs again saw major strides with the sprinters, jumpers, and hurdlers. Caroline Edmondson once again was able to showcase her overall talent by finishing second in the Indoor Championships in the pentathlon, while freshmen Diamond Rush (60m dash) and Tamara Damjanovic (triple jump) finished on the podium to pace the women's team. Frankie Thomas (high jump), Vincent Johnson (60m hurdles), Timothy Davis (triple jump) and the men's 4x400m relay team also earned All-Conference recognition by finishing among the top three in their events. Outdoors, the Bucs again boasted a number of top finishers among the conference leaders. Hurdler Vincent Johnson won the 110m hurdles championship outright to cap his sophomore season, while senior Jasmine Pilgrim was on the podium four separate times on the final day of the championship. The Bucs were on the podium in both 4x100m relays,, 400m hurdles for both men's and womens, the women's 4x400m relay, the men's high jump, and the women's triple jump. Junior Joshua Paramore was also back on the podium this year after finishing second in the men's 100m dash.
In her first season working with the CSU men's sprinters, jumpers, and hurdlers, Thompson helmed group that excelled in Big South competition. Sprinter Joshua Paramore headlined the men's team after claiming the Fastest Man title in the 100m event in the Big South Conference at the 2017 Conference Outdoor Championships. The Bucs' 4x100 relay team claimed third, while high jumper Frankie Thomas established a personal record of 2.07m to place second at the conference meet. Thomas (high jump), Timothy Davis (triple jump), and Niegel Simmons (long jump) all took individual titles at the Bucs' Lowcountry Invitational, while Paramore (110m) and Thomas (high jump) also took top honors at the CSU Spring Break Invitational. Simmons was the Big South long jump champion at the Big South Indoor Championships.
Thompson also led a strong women's team over her first season with the Bucs with multiple players receiving honors from the Big South. The Bucs' 4x100m relay team won their first team title at the Outdoor Championships since the 2010 season and third overall as the Bucs crossed the line in 46.05. Caroline Edmondson recorded the second-best CSU finish all-time in the heptathlon at the Big South Outdoor Championships. Kolisha Coleman (100m), Jasmine Pilgrim (400m), TeJyrica Robinson (100m hurdles), Edmondson (400m hurdles) all won individual titles at the Lowcountry Invitational, while Robinson (100m hurdles), and the 4x100m relay team took top honors at the CSU Spring Break Invitational.
During her time at UAH, Thompson was an 11-time USTFCCCA South Region Women's Assistant Track Coach of the Year and seven-time Men's Assistant Coach of the Year, helping establish the UAH track & field program as one of the most recognizable in the region.
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Thompson's athletes excelled under her tutelage at UAH, setting over 60 school records throughout her 13-year coaching career. She has coached 23 All-Americans, 110 NCAA Division II provisional qualifiers, 50 NCAA Division II Championship participants, and 250 All-Region recipients. Additionally, Thompson's teams have excelled in the classroom with more than 20 student-athletes earning All-Academic honors.
No stranger to the Big South Conference, Thompson was a highly decorated student-athlete at Gardner-Webb University where she was a standout on the oval as a member of the Runnin' Bulldogs' track team that posted a top-five finish at the 2000 NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships. Thompson was an eight-time indoor and outdoor ECAC qualifier, four-time NCAA Division II qualifier, two-time All-Atlantic Sun Conference performer and All-ECAC performer. Thompson was also the chair of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC) at Gardner-Webb.
Thompson is a 2003 graduate from Gardner-Webb University, receiving Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. She is also the proud mother of her son, Ajani.
Faith, Family, CSU: Get To Know Soyini Thompson
