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Tolsma gets 100th conference win

The Liberty women’s cross country team finished as Big South champions and the men’s team as runners-up at the 2016 Big South Cross Country Championships Oct. 28 at Asheville Christian Academy in Swannanoa, North Carolina.

With the Lady Flames win, Liberty Head Coach Brant Tolsma tallied his 100th conference championship in 31 years of coaching with the Flames.

“I told the girls they’re going for 100, but if they don’t get it, the guys are getting it, but if they don’t get it either, then we’ll have to wait until track,” Tolsma said.

The Lady Flames seized the opportunity to mark the 100th win for Tolsma completing the 5k race with eight Liberty runners in the top 17, including sophomore Anna Van Wyk finishing as first runner-up.

LEGACY — The women’s cross country team won their first Big South title since 2012. Photo credit: Kaitlyn Becker Johnson

LEGACY — The women’s cross country team won their first Big South title since 2012. Photo credit: Kaitlyn Becker Johnson

“The season’s been great,” Van Wyk said. “I feel like we haven’t raced very much, but I’ve gotten a 5k and 6k PR (personal record) this year so that’s cool. (I’m) just happy to be back running.”

After sitting out the entire season last year, Van Wyk fought back to make a major impact for the Flames.

“Anna had a concussion in a sleigh-riding accident last year so she didn’t get to run track at all, so I think she was pretty hungry,” Tolsma said. “She trained well over the summer and really stepped it up this year. We didn’t expect her to be our top runner, but she’s done (well) in that role.”

Along with Van Wyk, senior Terrill Zentmeyer finished fifth, sophomore Kammi Kurtz took eighth, and freshman Valerie Wierenga finished 10th to place four Liberty runners in the top 10.

“The way the women’s race unfolded was completely according to plan,” Tolsma said. “In the first half mile we were getting killed, but once we settled in, we pretty much had the meet won at the mile, and we just stayed in the lead the whole time.”

In the men’s 8k, they fell in a tight race that resulted in Campbell defending their Big South title from last year.

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“We definitely felt like we had a shot at both titles,” Tolsma said. “(In) the men’s race, we knew it was going to be tough to beat Campbell, and we would’ve needed to fire on all cylinders and we almost did that. We had them worried, but in the end we were one guy shy of winning the men’s race.”

Freshman standout Stanley Langet led a trio of Liberty runners that finished in the top five with his third place finish.

Sophomore Azaria Kirwa fought anemia to take fourth, and senior Josh Showalter took fifth leading the Flames to their third straight finish as runners-up.

After the race, Liberty received not only a Big South trophy but also a variety of awards.

All the way from Kenya, Langat’s efforts this season gained him the honor of Big South Men’s Freshman of the Year, and Liberty junior Graham Hansel was named to the Men’s All-Academic team.

Liberty Senior Kat Bouton’s 3.97 GPA won her the title of Women’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year and earned her a spot on the Women’s All-Academic team.

Making Tolsma’s 100th conference championship win a bit sweeter was the announcement that he had been named Women’s Coach of the Year for 2016.

collier is a sports reporter.

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