Liberty women’s cross country finished fifth while the men took 11th at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championship Nov. 12 in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Lady Flames’ fifth-place finish marks the highest placement at regionals from the
women’s program.
Senior Calli Doan was the headline of the day, placing fourth and earning her an individual spot at the NCAA Championships.
Expectations were high going into the race, but the team’s fifth place was not enough to be selected for an at-large bid for the NCAA Championship.
“Each girl ran hard, ran tough, and we had some really great performances on our team,” Assistant Coach Heather Zealand said. “I’m really proud.”
The Southeast Region has been a weaker region in the past, but the presence of top-ranked NC State and the rising of UNC as a running powerhouse puts the Flames finish in perspective.
NC State won the meet with a score of 34 points ahead of second place North Carolina’s 73. Kentucky was third in 103. Fifth place Liberty posted a score of 160.
Doan and junior Adelyn Ackley both earned all-region honors, finishing fourth and 14th respectively. NC State’s duo of Kelsey Chmiel and Katelyn Touhy came first and second.
Doan has been battle tested in many larger meets with tough competition this season, and she performed well once again.
“I felt like I was going through a lot of mental battles, and I was successful over them through the race. That was nice to know that I ran the hardest I could and just put it all out there,” Doan said.
Individual qualifiers for the NCAA Championships are selected from the top four runners in each region that are not part of a qualifying team. After the 31-team field was declared, Ackley was left just outside of a spot.
Doan is happy to qualify for NCAAs, but this moment is bittersweet as she will be attending the competition without her teammates after she competed with the team last year.
“I’m happy that I’m going, but it would be so much more of a blessing to have them with me,” Doan said.
Doan’s fourth-place finish is also the women’s team’s second-highest finish at the Southeast Region. Ednah Kurgat finished as the runner-up in 2015.
Anna Hostetler and Grace Dwyer both cracked the top 50, finishing in 42 and 47 place. The other three Liberty runners in the race — Noel Palmer, Marie Hostetler and Jamie Anderson — finished in 56, 92 and 121.
For the men’s team, its 11th-place finish comes after a hard fought second place runner-up performance at the ASUN Championships.
Senior Ryan Drew led the team with a 46th-place finish, though he said that he felt the entire team got stuck in the middle of the pack.
“That’s not where we wanted to be as a team. We were trying to shoot for top five,” Drew said.
Felix Kandie, who has been the number one runner for the Flames twice this season, was the next Flames across the line in 59th. Right behind him was Landon Miller, Kipruto Kogei and Caleb Olson in 60th, 62nd and 69th.
Wake Forest topped the team results in an upset over the pre-race favorite Furman 47 to 66. Liberty posted a team score of 291.
Unlike the women’s team, the men’s squad had no one finish with all-region honors, but they did have one of the best performances through five spreads in the field.
“The depth on the team is some of the best that we’ve ever seen in this program. We’re also pretty young, so we’re excited about the future,” Head Coach Isaac Wendland said.
Looking to next fall, the Flames return all of their top seven runners except for Drew and Miller. Drew, however, said that he is looking forward to what comes after cross country.
“Overall, we’re stoked with how we ended the season, and now we’re ready for track season,” Drew said.
In a few weeks, Doan will travel to Tallahassee, Florida, for the Nov. 20 NCAA Championships. The race begins at 10:20 a.m. and can be streamed on ESPNU.
Cosentino is a sports reporter. Follow him on Twitter.