Flames host annual Open
Track and field teams leave competitors in the dust in first meet of 2015
In the 10th annual Liberty Open Friday and Saturday, Jan. 16-17, the host Flames and Lady Flames track and field teams racked up 17 event victories in addition to a number of Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America (IC4A) and Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) qualifications.
High Flying — Jumping events were some of the many that the Flames dominated. Photo credit: Courtney Russo
During the two-day event, the men’s team took top honors in the long jump, triple jump, pole vault and weight throw in the field.
Sophomore Aklesso Agama took first place in the jumping events with distances of 22-11.75 in the long jump and 48-3.25 in the triple.
The Flames swept the top three spots in the pole vault, with freshman Carson Waters bringing home the win after clearing 15-9 in his debut with the Flames.
“I knew I could do it,” Waters said. “… I was just feeling good today, and I went and got my new personal best.”
The freshman’s clearance was also good enough to qualify for the IC4A meet, which includes some of the top men performers in the country and will take place at the end of the season. Ken Ritchey, who placed second after clearing the same height but missing more attempts, also qualified for the end-of-season meet.
Also in the field, redshirt junior David Scouten won the weight throw on his IC4A-qualifying 57-7 toss.
In the heptathlon, sophomore Zach Davis added a victory for the Flames after notching 4,757 points.
The Flames also fared well on the track in the Liberty Open. In the 200-meter dash, sophomore Stephen Racanelli notched an IC4A qualifier and win after crossing the finish line in 22.6 seconds.
Freshman Andrew Garrett came in just under two minutes in the 800-meter run to give the Flames another event victory.
Yet another IC4A qualifier was senior John Sherret with his 1,000-meter win in 2:28.4. Sherret beat out the rest of the field by more than five seconds.
“With the 1,000, it is basically just an 800,” Sherret said. “You just pull a little bit on the breaks at the start and try not to go as fast as you normally would.
Anybody can do the first 500 meters, so you just keep calm the first half of the race. The last half of the race, you do what you know to do. You keep calm, keep relaxing, keep pushing, and just keep focused on that.”
Sherret also aided in 4×400-meter and 4×800-meter relay wins each day of the event. In the longer race, Sherret was joined by freshman Andrew Crowell, senior Trevor Hope and redshirt junior Jacob Onifer for the IC4A-qualifying relay time of 7:50.16. In the 4×400-meter relay, freshman Levi Mack, sophomore Ryan Davis and redshirt senior Ryan Versen clocked 3:24.08.
On the women’s side of the meet, the Lady Flames took the top spot in seven events.
Like Sherret, senior Abigail Flower used her experience to bring home three event victories. In her solo events, the 60 and 200-meter dashes, Flower finished in 7.61 and 25.37 seconds, respectively. Her 200-meter time qualified her for the ECAC meet in the event.
Flower also teamed up with junior Corinn Bedell, sophomore Mary Witmer and redshirt senior Ansley Gebben to take first place and in the 4×400-meter relay with an ECAC-qualifying time of 3:55.28.
The Lady Flames brought home a victory in the longer 4×800-meter relay as well. The quarter comprised of senior Riley Brandon, sophomore Megan Versen, junior Christieanna Apon and senior Jacy Christiansen won by more than 18 seconds on a 9:31.96 clocking.
In the field events, the Lady Flames added three more wins. Freshman Erin Zappia cleared 5-7 in the high jump to take the first-place spot. Junior Janae Jones leaped to 38-2 in the triple jump for her event win, and freshman Mariel Finger took first after clearing the bar at a height of 11-3.75 in the pole vault. The Lady Flames swept the top four spots in the pole vault.
The men’s and women’s teams will now travel for the first time in the 2014-2015 indoor campaign to compete in the Hokie Invitational in Blacksburg, Virginia, Friday and Saturday, Jan. 23-24.
Brown is the editor-in-chief.
Research contributed by Greg Castel.