Cross Country wins tournament for first time in three years

The Liberty Flames kicked off their 2022 cross country season Sept. 1 at the Liberty Challenge in Lynchburg. 

The Flames competed against the nearby University of Lynchburg Hornets. 

Both the men’s and women’s teams displayed strong performances in Liberty’s first home meet in three years. 

The women’s team, led by Coach Heather Zealand, dominated in the 4k race. The top nine finishers were all affiliated with Liberty, and four ran unattached. 

All-American Calli Doan led all runners, finishing with a time of 14:15. Rounding out the top three were freshman Ava Gordon and junior Marie Hostetler. 

Doan’s victory was her third individual career win and her first race since the Brant Tolsma Invitational on Jan. 22. 

“We wanted to get out there and have fun and start the season out with the joy of running,” Zealand said. “And I feel we were able to accomplish that.”

The men’s team, led by Coach Isaac Wendland, also dominated in the 6k race. The top three finishers were all from Liberty, including Nicholas Kiprotich, the first-place finisher with a time of 18:27. While Kiprotich is a Liberty athlete, he ran this race unattached.  

Kiprotich, an Iowa Western Community College transfer, finished with a 21.6-second gap between him and the next runner. 

Will Jefferson and Kyle Harkabus rounded out the top three for Liberty, finishing with times of 18:49 and 18:57, respectively.

After a disappointing finish to last season, Wendland and his team are committed to ending this year with an ASUN conference championship. 

“We’d love to win a conference title,” Wendland said. “We’ve been second three years in a row since I’ve been here.” 

Liberty cross country will take to the course again Sept. 16 to compete in the Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational in Blacksburg, Virginia.   

Garrett is a sports reporter for the Liberty Champion.