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Two Flames alumni to vie for Olympic bids at team trials on NBC

Sam Chelanga and Carol Smith

Liberty University men’s and women’s cross country and track & field alumni Sam Chelanga (’11) and Carol (Jefferson) Smith (’08) will compete for spots on the U.S. Olympic Team in the marathon during Saturday’s team trials on the streets of Los Angeles, broadcast live on NBC starting at 1 p.m.

The top three finishers in the men’s and women’s races will qualify to represent the Unites States at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and the top 10 will earn prize money, including $80,000 for the winner of each race.

Chelanga, a four-time NCAA Division I national champion for the Flames who became a U.S. citizen this past August, won a pair of USATF national titles in the fall — the 10-mile championship in October and 12K crown in November.Smith, who won six Big South Conference titles during her time at Liberty, will compete in her second U.S. trials in the marathon after placing 113th in the women’s race in 2012 in Houston. She ran a personal-best and Lady Flames alumni-record marathon time of 2 hours, 39 minutes, 45 seconds at the 2014 California International Marathon in Sacramento.

  • Read the full story on Liberty’s Athletics website.
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