Liberty University sophomore mid-distance runner Allie Zealand is rapidly emerging as one of the most dominant athletes in cross country history, but she is just getting started.
Zealand is a member of both the university’s cross country and track and field teams. Even as an underclassman, she has already begun to cement her legacy into the record books. Her most recent achievement came at the Brant Tolsma Elite Invitational where she competed in the women’s mile invitational Jan. 29-30.
Zealand finished the mile in 4:28.89 seconds, setting a new personal and program record. The time currently ranks seventh nationally and came against some elite competition, including North Carolina State University’s Sadie Engelhardt, who entered the meet at No. 6 in the country.
“It’s definitely great,” Zealand said. “Being very competitive, I always look to the top people and want to be with them and want to be beating them.”
During the invitational, Zealand was honored as the Conference USA Women’s Track Athlete of the Week for the second time this season. Despite the growing national recognition, there are two supporters whose presence means more to Zealand than any accolade.
Her parents, Josh and Heather Zealand, are both former Liberty athletes who competed in the same events that she now runs. Her mother was the first NCAA Division I national champion in program history, winning the women’s mile in 2002. Currently, Heather is Liberty’s women’s distance coach, which Zealand credits to being a huge part of the decision to attend Liberty.
“My mom has always been a huge influence on my running, my dad as well,” Zealand said. “We’ve always been very involved in Liberty track and field and cross country … watching results and rooting for them and just always being around. So, I knew that I always wanted to be a part of that as well.”
Working with her mother on a daily basis has improved Zealand’s skills. Zealand said her mom’s deep understanding of her strengths and tendencies has helped foster a strong coach-athlete relationship. That dynamic came full circle during Zealand’s freshman season when she broke her mother’s 1,500-meter record by more than five seconds, finishing in 4:09.76 with her mom in attendance.
“It was a long time coming,” Zealand said. “Since I started running, I had my mom’s times as something I was looking at, wanting to beat … once I got to school and that record and saw how long it stood, I wanted it.”
Zealand recalled running multiple races only one or two seconds off the record before finally surpassing it. The challenge motivated her to keep pursuing the goal. After finally breaking the mark, she said that her mother was thrilled and joked that it was “still in the family.”
While many student athletes juggle the difficult task of balancing athletics and academics, Zealand has excelled at both. Zealand was named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division I Women’s Cross Country All-Academic Team in back-to-back seasons. Her academic success helped the Lady Flames earn USTFCCCA All-Academic Team as the women’s cross-country team posted a 3.68 cumulative GPA.
Zealand will continue competing throughout the track and field season while also pursuing a degree in civil engineering.
Zealand said that going forward she is focusing on school, NCAA, and eventually American records. She noted the presence of a bigger stage fuels her passion for running. She even hinted at the possibility of training to one day compete at the Olympic level.
“Being in a running family, we watched the Olympics basically since I was born,” Zealand said. “I’ve always had LA 2028 on my mind, and still do. Definitely being an Olympian is one of my biggest goals.”
She also mentioned her hopes that cross country could be added to the Summer Olympics.
Rice is a sports reporter for the Liberty Champion.