Liberty University Flames

Liberty's Calli Doan (women's steeplechase) and Kevin Nedrick (men's discus) are set to compete at the 2023 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Thursday through Saturday at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas.

Doan will race in the women's steeplechase semifinals Thursday at 9:02 p.m. Eastern, with the final slated for Saturday at 9:24 p.m. Eastern. The men's discus will begin Friday at 8:35 p.m. Eastern, with Nedrick competing in Flight 2.

This is the eighth consecutive season Liberty has been represented at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships and the fifth straight year a Flames thrower has qualified.

How to Follow the Flames and Lady Flames

Doan's steeplechase races will air live on ESPN2 on Thursday (semifinals) and Saturday (final).

Live video streaming coverage of Friday's men's discus competition will air on ESPN+.

Live results, including lap-by-lap splits and in-progress field event updates, will be provided by Flash Results.

Weather Report

Temperatures are expected to reach the mid to upper-90s in Austin Thursday, Friday and Saturday under abundant sunshine.

NCAA Championship Event Capsules (Organized Chronologically)

Women's Steeplechase

Event Schedule: Semifinals – Thursday at 9:02 p.m. Eastern; Final – Saturday at 9:24 p.m. Eastern

Liberty Competitor: Calli Doan (R-Jr., Apex, N.C.)

Season Best/Personal Best: 9:57.15/9:57.15

How She Got Here: Doan overcame a fall to become the first Lady Flame ever to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the women's steeplechase.

With three laps remaining in her race at the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round meet, May 27 in Jacksonville, Fla., Doan tripped over a land barrier and lost contact with the lead pack of three. She gradually reeled in Michigan's Kayla Windemuller, overtaking the Wolverine on the final lap to claim her heat's third automatic qualifier to Austin in 10:02.59.

Doan will compete at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships for the first time, after making two appearances at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships (spring 2021 and fall 2021). She placed 28^th at the Fall 2021 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships to earn All-America distinction.

Doan's other two steeplechase races this season have been less dramatic. She ran 9:57.15 at the Stanford Invitational on March 31, lowering her personal best and program record by 13 seconds, and cruised to her second career ASUN steeplechase title in 10:12.31 on May 12.

Doan has been successful from start to finish during the 2022-23 athletic year after recovering from an injury which wiped out her 2022 indoor and outdoor track campaigns. Liberty's first-ever ASUN Female Student-Athlete of the Year has raced to four ASUN Conference individual titles this year, including the cross country 5K, indoor 3K, indoor 5K and outdoor steeplechase. She has set program records in the cross country 5K (16:15.1), indoor mile (4:36.52), indoor 3K (9:24.67) and outdoor steeplechase (9:57.15), while lowering the ASUN all-time outdoor 5K standard to 15:51.38.

Event Breakdown: Doan will make her NCAA steeplechase debut as an underdog, as her personal best of 9:57.15 ranks No. 21 among the 24 entrants, ahead of only Iowa State's Janette Schraft (9:57.55), Binghamton's Aziza Chigatayeva (9:58.02) and Penn's Olivia Morganti (9:59.41).

At the opposite end of the spectrum, the event's fastest personal bests belong to Washington's Kayley Delay (9:25.08 in the 2022 NCAA final) and Cal Baptist's Greta Karinauskaite (9:26.88 at the NCAA Division I West Preliminary Round meet).

Six of the top 10 finishers from the 2022 NCAA steeplechase final return, led by Delay, who placed second while representing Yale. She was followed by West Virginia's Ceili McCabe (third), New Mexico's Elise Thorner (fifth), Oregon State's Kaylee Mitchell (sixth), Notre Dame's Olivia Markezich (ninth) and Oregon State's Grace Fetherstonhaugh (10^th).

Doan gives the ASUN Conference a national qualifier in this event for the second year in a row. EKU's Laura Taborda came in 17^th in 2022.

How the Event Will Progress in Austin: Two semifinal heats of the women's steeplechase will be contested on Thursday, with Doan entered in the first section. The top five runners in each heat and the next two fastest time qualifiers will move on to Saturday's final.

The top eight runners in Saturday's final will score team points and become first team All-Americans. The other four finalists and the four fastest non-finalists will be second team All-Americans.

Last season, it took a time of 9:45.18 to qualify for the final and a time of 9:35.60 to earn first team All-America honors.

What's at Stake: A top-16 finish would make Doan a track & field All-American for the first time and give Liberty its first All-American in the women's steeplechase. The Flames' first men's steeplechase All-America honor (Felix Kandie – 2019 second team) was earned in Austin.

Doan will try to become the first ASUN athlete ever to qualify for the NCAA women's steeplechase final. Lipscomb's Madi Talbert missed the final by one place with back-to-back 13^th-place finishes in 2015 and 2016.

The Lady Flames' most recent top-eight finish at this meet came in 2016, when Ednah Kurgat placed fourth in the women's 5K final. She is Liberty's most recent All-American in women's track & field.

A new personal best by Doan would break her own program record of 9:57.15. This is also the final meet where Doan can shoot for an ASUN Conference all-time record, as she will complete her final year of track & field eligibility in Conference USA in 2024.

Talbert owns the ASUN all-time women's steeplechase record with her 9:50.57 effort at the 2015 NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round meet in Jacksonville, Fla.

The automatic qualifying standard for the USATF Outdoor Championships is 9:35.00.

Men's Discus

Event Schedule: Final – Friday at 8:35 p.m. Eastern

Liberty Competitor: Kevin Nedrick (R-Sr., Montego Bay, Jamaica)

Season Best/Personal Best: 194-5 (59.27m)/194-5 (59.27m)

How He Got Here: At last year's NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round meet in Bloomington, Ind., Nedrick had to sweat things out before claiming the 12^th and final qualifying position to throw the discus at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

This time around, things were not nearly as dramatic. Nedrick's first attempt at the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round meet in Jacksonville cut through the stiff left to right crosswind and reached 187-9. That mark stood up for sixth place, easily earning him a return trip to the national meet.

Nedrick, who placed 11^th for second team All-America honors a year ago, joins Clendon Henderson (2007 and 2008) as the only Flames ever to make multiple NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships appearances in the men's discus.

Consistency has been a hallmark of Nedrick's final collegiate season. He has heaved the discus between 186-7 and 194-5 at all eight of his competitions, winning half of them. Nedrick's winning mark of 194-5 at the Virginia Quadrangular on April 1 stands as the ASUN Conference all-time record.

Nedrick finished as the ASUN men's discus runner-up to Kennesaw State's Anthony Harrison, who also successfully qualified to Austin.

A versatile thrower, Nedrick nearly advanced to the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in a second event. He placed 14^th in the men's shot put at the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round meet (61-1.5), falling just five inches shy of 12^th.

Nedrick also came in sixth (189-2) in his only javelin competition of the season at the ASUN Championship.

Event Breakdown: Nedrick is part of a star-studded men's discus field which features the collegiate record holder (Cal's Mykolas Alekna – 232-11) and each of the last two national champions. Arizona State's Turner Washington won in 2021, while LSU's Claudio Romero took top honors in 2022 (while representing Virginia).

Nedrick is one of eight returning All-Americans from the 2022 NCAA men's discus final. Two of them are fellow Jamaicans, both of whom compete for Arkansas. Ralford Mullings took third place a year ago, while fellow Montego Bay native Roje Stona was ninth.

Last season, Nedrick became the first ASUN Conference men's discus thrower ever to qualify for the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships. This time around, he is joined by Harrison. Liberty redshirt freshman Desmond Coleman very nearly made it three ASUN discus throwers heading to Austin but just missed 12^th place by a centimeter.

Nedrick and Harrison have both thrown 194-5 this season, with Nedrick edging the Owls' standout by two centimeters (59.27m to 59.25m) for the ASUN all-time standard.

The only six conferences which are sending multiple men's discus competitors to Austin are the Power Five (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC) and the ASUN.

How the Event Will Progress in Austin: The 24 discus throwers in Austin will be divided into two flights, with Nedrick throwing in the second (higher-seeded) flight. After all 24 athletes have taken three throws, the top nine competitors will earn three more attempts.

The top eight finishers will score team points and become first team All-Americans, with the next eight garnering second team All-America accolades.

Last season, eighth place measured 195-3 and 16th place reached 183-5. Nedrick threw 191-2 for 11^th place, missing a spot in finals by two feet.

What's at Stake: A top-16 finish would make Nedrick the first two-time NCAA Division I men's discus All-American in program history. He would also become Liberty's first thrower (men's or women's) to collect multiple NCAA Division I All-America honors during his or her career.

A top-eight performance would enable Nedrick to become the Flames' first athlete to earn first team All-America honors at this meet since 2019, the last time it was contested in Austin. That year, Alejandro Perlaza Zapata placed fifth in the men's 400 and Azaria Kirwa took eighth in the 10K.

Liberty's best-ever NCAA national finish in the men's discus is third place by Clendon Henderson in 2008. Nedrick's 11^th-place showing a year ago is the best NCAA national performance by an ASUN men's discus athlete.

Henderson has owned the Liberty men's discus record at 204-3 for 15 years, since setting it on April 4, 2008 at the Texas Relays in Austin. Nedrick currently ranks No. 2 in program history at 194-5.

The ASUN all-time standard of 194-5 will likely be challenged Friday evening, with both Nedrick and Harrison having reached that distance earlier this season.

Doan, Nedrick Set for NCAA Meet in Austin