Chelanga sets 5k world record in Open
Solid performances by men and women
Cool runnings — With a time still 22 seconds under his personal best, Sam Chelanga set the 2011 indoor 5k world record Friday.
Sam Chelanga does it again. Chelanga, who just won his second straight national championship in cross country in November, set a world record for the year in the men’s 5k during the Liberty Open Friday and Saturday.
Chelanga set his record with his time of 13 minutes, 41.35 seconds. He won by more than minute against runner-up Terrance Attema from Campbell University, who finished in 14:59.18. His performance qualifies Chelanga for Nationals.
“(Chelanga) ran the fastest time in the world for this year,” said head coach Brant Tolsma.
According to Tolsma, Chelanga is a leading contender for the Bowerman Award, which is the nation’s top track and field award for collegiate athletes according to the Bowerman Organization’s website.
Last year Chelanga was in fourth place for the award and the three contenders ahead of him graduated, so he has a good shot, said Tolsma.
“There’s nobody that can replace him,” Tolsma said when speaking of Chelanga’s impending departure as a second-semester senior.
However, the year is not over, Tolsma is quick to assure, and he said that Chelanga would like to win a few more national titles in his remaining semester at Liberty.
The Open is the second meet that the Liberty Track and Field team has been at this semester and one of the eight tournaments that Liberty hosts in the year.
“It’s fun to run at home … get to sleep in your own bed,” Tolsma said.
Redshirt Geren Woodbridge said this is a good meet for the Liberty Track and Field team to get back into the swing of things, get some good marks in and to gauge where all the athletes are.
“Because we’re at home, we’re a little more comfortable,” Woodbridge said.
Tolsma was happy with his team’s performance after the first day and felt like they had accomplished a lot of what they wanted to.
“In the female team, we’re pretty solid across the board,” Tolsma said. “There’s someone good in every event.”
This confidence was shown in their excellent performances in the women’s indoor pentathlon, the women’s 4×800 relay and the women’s weight throw.
Junior Christina Mitchell won the women’s indoor pentathlon with an overall of 3,463 points in the five events. Her performance qualified her for the ECAC Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships.
Woodbridge has high hopes for the Liberty Track and Field Team and said they have a shot of going to Nationals.
“(We) just (want) to go as far as we can and see where the Lord takes us,” Woodbridge said.
The Liberty Track and Field Team will compete next at the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup at Pennsylvania State University on Feb. 5.