Liberty Announces 2022 XC Schedule

2022 Liberty Cross Country Schedule

For the first time in three years, Liberty will host a cross country meet. The Sept. 1 Liberty Challenge will open the Flames’ 2022 cross country season schedule, which was announced today.

The Joe Piane Invitational is another schedule highlight, as the high-level meet on Sept. 30 will mark the Flames’ first visit to Notre Dame in a decade.

For the second time in three seasons, the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships will take place in Stillwater, Okla. The Greiner Family OSU Cross Country Course played host to the 2020 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, where the Lady Flames qualified as a team for the first time in program history.

Getting Started

The Flames and Lady Flames will begin their season at the Liberty Challenge on Sept. 1. The Liberty Cross Country Course is located adjacent to the Liberty Indoor Track Complex.

The most recent version of the Liberty Challenge (Aug. 30, 2019), saw Liberty’s Adelyn Ackley and Felix Kandie sweep the individual titles. They will both be back to defend their crowns in the season opener.

Liberty will remain in the Commonwealth for the Sept. 16 Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational. The meet, which served as the Flames’ fall 2021 season opener, will mark the 15^th year out of the last 16 Liberty has raced at least once in Blacksburg, Va.

Invitational Information

Liberty will split its runners for the first time on Sept. 30, sending the “A” team to the Joe Piane Invitational and the “B” squad to the Paul Short Run.

As mentioned previously, the Flames have not made the trip to Notre Dame since 2012. Liberty’s last Paul Short Run appearance came in 2017, when then-freshman Noel Palmer led the Lady Flames with a fourth-place showing in the women’s 6K brown race.

Liberty will also divide its team up two weeks later. The “B” squad will open the weekend at the XC23 Invitational in Earlysville, Va., Oct. 14. Meanwhile, the “A” team will make what it hopes will be the first of two trips to Stillwater, Okla., for the Oct. 15 Weis-Crockett Invitational.

The XC23 Invitational is so named because Panorama Farms will serve as the site of the 2023 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships. The Weis-Crockett Invitational will serve as this year’s Pre-Nationals meet, allowing runners to preview the course for the 2022 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships.

Championship Season

On Oct. 29, Liberty’s fifth and final appearance at the ASUN Cross Country Championships will take place at the John Hunt Cross Country Course in Huntsville, Ala., which will also host the 2022 NCAA Division I South Regional Championships two weeks later. The Lady Flames will aim for their third consecutive team title, while the Flames seek their first ASUN team crown after four straight runner-up finishes.

The NCAA Division I Southeast Regional Championships, set for Nov. 11, will be run at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky., for the second consecutive season. Last season, the Lady Flames recorded the best regional finish in program history, taking fifth place at this meet.

The 2022 cross country season will conclude on Nov. 19 with the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in Stillwater, Okla. The Lady Flames took 26^th place at this venue at the 2020 NCAA meet, and five of the team’s seven runners from that meet are back in 2022.