Liberty University Flames

The Liberty men’s and women’s indoor track & field squads will return to Lynchburg on Saturday for the Liberty Open, their first of three February home meets at the Brant Tolsma Indoor Track at the Liberty Indoor Track Complex.

The one-day competition will begin at 8 a.m. with the men’s weight throw. Running events will get started at 10 a.m. with the men’s shuttle hurdles relay. Of note, the men’s and women’s 400 hurdles will be contested for the first time ever at the facility, beginning at 4:05 p.m.

The meet will include athletes from 29 different colleges and universities. Liberty will be joined by fellow Division I squads UMBC, VCU and Winthrop among a field consisting primarily of non-Division I teams.

How to Follow the Flames and Lady Flames

Admission is free of charge.

For those unable to attend the Liberty Open, live results will be available throughout the meet, courtesy of Blue Ridge Timing.

About the Facility

The 169,000-square-foot Liberty Indoor Track Complex is highlighted by a six-lane, 200-meter, hydraulically banked oval which is now named for legendary Flames head coach Brant Tolsma. The facility, which includes permanent seating for approximately 1,500 spectators, also boasts ample space for athletes. Competitors are availed a sizeable mezzanine area which sits above an eight-lane, 100-meter warm-up straightaway.

The Liberty Indoor Track Complex opened in January 2017 and has seen records broken ever since. The Liberty Kickoff (Dec. 1 & 2) opened the seventh year of competition at the facility.

The Flames will host five college meets this season, with the ninth annual Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational (Feb. 10-11) and the ASUN Indoor Track & Field Championships (Feb. 24-25) still to come later this month.

Hello, Hurdles!

Hurdling events will take center stage at the Liberty Open, beginning with the very first race of the day (shuttle hurdles relay) and also featuring the first indoor 400 hurdles races in program and facility history.

Liberty’s hurdling depth should give both the Flames and Lady Flames a shot at the program and facility records for the shuttle hurdles.

The projected men’s quartet of Luke Anderson, Anthony Bryan, Felix Lawrence and Prosper Ekporere will take aim at the following records:

Facility Record – 32.41 by Navy on Feb. 11, 2022

Liberty Record – 32.88 by Jovaine Atkinson, Markus Ballengee, Samson Moore and Ryan Davis on Jan. 27, 2017

The planned women’s grouping of Meredith Engle, Jasmine Williams, Patasha Bryan and Liberty 60 hurdles record holder Indea Cartwright will shoot for the following:

Facility Record – 34.16 by Marshall on Feb. 1, 2020

Liberty Record – 34.69 by Tiffany Jeffcoat, Katie Dodson, Kylie Polsgrove and Jaiden Mulder on Feb. 8, 2019

Scheduled for 4:05 p.m., the men’s and women’s 400 hurdles races will be the first of their kind in the seven years of competition at the Brant Tolsma Indoor Track at the Liberty Indoor Track Complex.

Liberty’s Luke Anderson is slated to run the men’s event alongside unattached teammates Josh Blalock and Zack Weekman.

Muy Bueno

Liberty’s Paola Bueno, who earned her second ASUN Women’s Freshman of the Week award on Wednesday, has gotten better each time she has competed in the women’s weight throw this season.

The native of Nyarit, Mexico opened her collegiate career by winning the Liberty Kickoff women’s weight throw title at 58-6. Since then, she has improved to 61-4, 62-8 and 65-2.75 at each of her next three meets.

Bueno’s 65-2.75 effort at last weekend’s Bob Pollock Invitational broke the Liberty freshman record of 64-7.75 Chelsea Igberaese reached to win the 2019 ASUN title.

Bueno, who ranks No. 32 nationally and No. 2 among freshmen, could soon be challenging both the facility (66-9.25 by Charlotte’s Victoria Merriweather in 2017) and program (67-5.5 by Jocelyn Williams in 2014) standards.

Bueno is the top seed in the women’s weight throw competition Saturday morning as she looks to remain unbeaten at home. In addition to her title at the Liberty Kickoff, she also took top honors at the Brant Tolsma Invitational.

Mid-Distance Matchups

The men’s mile (12:55 p.m.) and women’s 800 (3:40 p.m.) should be two of the top races for Liberty fans to watch Saturday afternoon.

Freshmen Graham Mussmon and Brendan Pitcher will compete in the men’s mile. Mussmon paced the Flames’ milers with a 4:10.72 effort last weekend at the Bob Pollock Invitational after clocking 4:09.97 during his collegiate mile debut two weeks earlier at Virginia Tech.

Liberty alum Ryan Drew is also part of the men’s mile field, chasing a fast time. His personal best of 4:01.27, which is the program record, was achieved almost exactly a year ago (Feb. 12, 2022) on the day the Brant Tolsma Indoor Track was dedicated.

Personal bests abounded for the Lady Flames in the 800 and mile at last week’s Bob Pollock Invitational. Three of the team’s top performers from that meet will race the 800 on Saturday, including Calli Doan (team-leading 2:11.08 800 and personal-best 4:39.91 mile), Marie Hostetler (personal-best 2:12.76 800 and personal-best 4:53.53 mile) and Jessica Palisca (personal-best 2:12.23 800 and personal-best 4:55.00 mile).

Palisca’s 800 time shattered her best of 2:15.89 from high school and put her within striking distance of the Liberty freshman record (Delaney McDowell’s 2:09.98 from 2016).

First-year Lady Flame Katelyn Locker, racing unattached, should also contend. She owns a personal best of 2:09.34 from her time at Monmouth.

Atop the ASUN

At this stage of the 2022-23 indoor season, Liberty ranks No. 1 in the ASUN Conference in the following events:

Women’s 60 Hurdles – Indea Cartwright – 8.23

Women’s Triple Jump – Makenzy Mizera – 41-3.75

Women’s Shot Put – Megan Mann – 46-8

Women’s Weight Throw – Paola Bueno – 65-2.75

Pentathlon – Meredith Engle – 3,960

Men’s 60 – Omari Lewis – 6.74

Men’s 200 – Donald McClinton – 21.49

Men’s 800 – Ally Kipchirchir – 1:49.18

Men’s 5K – Tristian Merchant – 14:00.86

Men’s 60 Hurdles – Felix Lawrence – 8.09

Men’s Long Jump – Quinten Clay – 24-5

Men’s High Jump – Kennedy Sauder – 7-1.75

Men’s Shot Put – Warren Barrett – 64-1.25

Heptathlon – Anthony Bryan – 5,334

Among the Nation’s Elite

At season’s end, the nation’s top 16 performers in each event will qualify to the 2023 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships. The meet is scheduled for March 10-11 in Albuquerque, N.M.

The following Flames currently rank among the top 16 in their respective events:

No. 10 – Kennedy Sauder – High Jump – 7-1.75

No. 13 – Warren Barrett – Men’s Shot Put – 64-1.25

Up Next

The Flames will split their athletes between three different meets next weekend. Most of the team will compete at the ninth annual Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational, Feb. 10 & 11 at the Brant Tolsma Indoor Track at the Liberty Indoor Track Complex. Portions of both days’ events will air live on ESPN+.

Liberty will also send a group of athletes to Albuquerque, N.M., for the Don Kirby Elite Invitational, Feb. 10 & 11. Televised on FloTrack, the meet will take place at the Albuquerque Convention Center, site of the 2023 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships.

Finally, Calli Doan is entered in the women’s mile at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational. Her race will take place on Feb. 10 at the Boston University Track & Tennis Center, live on FloTrack.

Featured in Main Photo: Jasmine Williams (left) and Indea Cartwright (right)

Flames Begin February by Hosting Liberty Open