Cross-country road runners

Like many Liberty University sports teams, 2018 will be a year of transition and intentional progress for the Flames cross-country squad as they compete in a new conference under an interim head coach.

All-American Azaria Kirwa and sophomore standout Noel Palmer headline Liberty’s roster of 12 men and 23 women that will be coached by former Flame, Rebekah Ricksecker.

Ricksecker, in her seventh season at Liberty, takes on her first season as head coach as she steps in while former longtime head coach Brant Tolsma focuses more on his duties as director of track and field and cross-country.

“My role has changed in some ways every year or every couple of years, so I’ve gotten used to just doing the best that I can in whatever role that I am given on any particular year,” Ricksecker said. “I’m certainly enjoying this role. I like the challenge of it.”

Part of Ricksecker’s challenge involves helping runners adjust to the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) after dominating in the Big South Conference in past seasons.

(Photo by Erik Flores)

Ricksecker pointed to the University of North Florida and especially Lipscomb University as teams that could potentially derail Liberty’s goal of victory.

But neither of those schools were around to stop All-American Azaria Kirwa and the Flames men from running away with the win at the season-opening Virginia Tech Invitational at the Buford Meredith Cross-Country Course Aug. 31. 

Kirwa won the men’s 6K individual championship in a time of 18:32.8. Despite being the preseason pick for ASUN runner of the year, he said that the victory was satisfactory, but unexpected.

“I don’t know why I took first place,” Kirwa said. “I didn’t see that coming.”

The Lady Flames runners finished second behind host Virginia Tech, but Palmer, winner of the silver medal at this past summer’s Federation Internationale du Sport Universitaire America Games, was still pleased with how her and her teammates executed. 

“We were working on pack running in that race, and we were just trying to get a solid workout in without pushing ourselves too hard,” Palmer said. “We were able to see that we have a really strong top group.”

Ricksecker does not question the high-end ability on both the men’s and women’s teams. She is more focused on making sure that the runners stick together and push each other to reach their potential.

“One of the most important things for a team is that they have good team chemistry,” Ricksecker said. “Because we have a lot of talent, but you need to have team chemistry to have a successful season.” 

(Photo by Kevin Manguiob)

As the Flames go through a schedule that includes meets in Wisconsin, New York, Virginia and North and South Carolina, Ricksecker hopes that team chemistry and a good balance between having fun and working hard will lead to a memorable year for every Liberty runner.

“I would definitely hope for everybody to see the value of hard work and the value of going after a goal, but I also want them to have joy in running and have joy in being on a team that’s supportive of each other,” Ricksecker said. “I want to have a team where there’s an environment where life-long friendships are created and just an atmosphere of spiritual growth as well.”

Spiritual growth is key for Kirwa, who believes that having a healthy spiritual relationship with God ultimately leads to an attitude of maximum effort.

“If you love God enough and if you listen to Him, I think the hard work part will just come naturally, because God likes hard-working people,” Kirwa said.

The Flames recognize that the love of God is not exclusive, however, as one of Palmer’s goals this season is to share the story of Christ with opponents she sees at meets this season. 

“I feel like there’s an opportunity that we have to share the Gospel with others (and) just speak a word of encouragement,” Palmer said. “I would love to start doing that more and model that for the team because I feel like that’s the most important thing.”

Getting results is a priority for Liberty’s cross country team this season, but it is obviously not the only thing they are worried about. Their focus on representing Christ and progressing every day is first and foremost.

“This year I’m just hoping for the best,” Kirwa said. “Just to do better than I have done before. Just to do better than yesterday.” 

The mens and women cross country teams compete at Virginia Tech on August 31, 2018. (Photo by Erik Flores)

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