Liberty University swept the men’s and women’s cross country conference titles on Nov. 2 at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Ala. The Lady Flames enjoyed the largest margin of victory (66 points) in CUSA Cross Country Championships history, while the Flames pulled out their first conference championship in 11 years.
Led by the duo of Adelyn Fairley (second place) and Allie Zealand (third), Liberty put seven runners inside the top 14 women’s 6K finishers. The Lady Flames notched a dominating 28-94 victory over defending champion Middle Tennessee. Liberty’s last conference crown came in 2021 (ASUN).
The men’s squad halted a run of 10 consecutive runner-up finishes spanning three conferences (Big South, ASUN, and CUSA) to claim its first title since the 2013 Big South Championships. Paced by Tristian Merchant (third place), six Flames crossed the line within the top 20 finishers as Liberty edged defending champion Middle Tennessee, 46-48.
Fairley was honored as CUSA Women’s Outstanding Senior, and Head Coach Isaac Wendland (men’s) and Assistant Coach Heather Zealand (women’s) swept the CUSA Coach of the Year trophies.
