ASUN champion cross country coach goes the distance using athletics as a means of ministry

Driven by a passion for sharing her faith, Liberty University Cross Country and Track & Field Assistant Coach Heather Zealand (’02) marvels at how the Lord used a Christian school in Central Virginia to direct her to her calling of helping athletes grow spiritually.

Zealand, who was named the 2021 ASUN Conference Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year last month after helping the Lady Flames defend their conference championship, is preparing to lead her team into the NCAA Division I Southeast Regional Championships this Friday, Nov. 12, in Louisville, Ky.

“A huge part of the role that I am in now is mentorship and discipleship,” she said. “Athletics is such a great opportunity for that life-on-life discipleship and for me, choosing this role when I was given the opportunity was really a step into a ministry.”

The Virginia native said she grew up playing sports and started running cross country in her junior year of high school. Although her running times were exceptional, Zealand was not interested at first in pursuing cross country in college due to her desire to travel overseas and be a missionary.

“My mom encouraged me to look into my options and then my head coach from high school asked if he could contact Liberty for me,” she said. “He said he recognized that my faith was important to me so he wanted to contact a Division I Christian school coach.”

Soon after contacting Liberty, former Liberty Track & Field Head Coach Brant Tolsma offered Zealand a scholarship.

“When I came (to Liberty) and I met Coach Tolsma, and I realized the vision to fuse faith and athletics was very integral to what this place was about, it got my wheels turning,” she said.

In 2002, in addition to being named the 2002 USTFCCCA Division I Women’s Track & Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the 2002 Virginia NCAA Woman of the Year and Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Zealand captured Liberty’s first NCAA Division I national title in any sport, racing to victory in the women’s mile at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships. That same year, she also finished as runner-up in the women’s 1,500 at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Throughout her collegiate career, Zealand was a 14-time Big South Conference champion and became the first Lady Flame ever to win an ECAC event title (2002 indoor mile). As a senior in 2002, she became the first collegiate athlete since 1987 to capture the Olympic Development mile title at the Penn Relays.

Her success was matched outside of the classroom, as she graduated in 2002 with a 3.88 GPA and earned a degree in secondary education.

After graduation, Zealand represented the United States at the 2003 World Cross Country Championships and made the women’s 1,500 finals at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials. She was inducted into the Liberty Athletics Hall of Fame in 2011.

Soon after graduating, Zealand joined Liberty’s cross country coaching staff until 2011. After taking close to a decade off to spend time raising her four children with husband Josh, a former Liberty men’s track & field/cross country runner, Heather returned to coaching in 2021 as the women’s assistant coach.

But whether it was during her first coaching stint with Liberty or the last couple years, Zealand said what excites her the most is the opportunity to share with athletes the hope she has found in Jesus.

“Before I came to Liberty, I had put faith in a box,” she said. “Walking out your faith is not limited to a particular career path or ministry degrees. I realized that athletics is an amazing tool to be a light, and it’s a great opportunity to grow in your faith. My walk with the Lord was grown dramatically through my investment in the team.”

As a coach, Zealand continues to pour into her team just as her coaches once poured into her life.

“A lot of (growth) was because I had coaches who were pouring into me, discipling and mentoring me with this mission of using running for God’s glory.”

Through Bible study, weekly prayer times, and intentional conversations, she hopes to show her student-athletes how life-giving a relationship with Jesus can be. While she still has a heart for cross-cultural missions and hopes to one day go on more trips with her church, Zealand feels confident Liberty is where the Lord has led her for this season of life.

“I feel like the Lord has shown me how He will use me wherever I am,” she said.

For her student-athletes, Zealand hopes that they can experience what has made Liberty so special for her.

“Using our athletics for God’s glory and being able to experience developing what God has given us and just enjoying it,” she said. “We’re constantly talking about how we can use running to honor Him and how we can use this as a ministry.”

Currently, Zealand is coaching what she believes is one of the best women’s cross country teams in school history. She joined the team shortly after its first-ever appearance at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships this past spring, and this year, the team made history by earning its first-ever ranking in the NCAA Division I Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll, checking in at No. 24. After winning the ASUN Championships, paced by senior Calli Doan’s individual title, Zealand believes the pump is primed for a stellar performance at Friday’s regional championships.

“It’s been a great season,” she said. “The girls on the team are a really fun group. They’re really dedicated and very talented, so it’s been a joy to come in and coach them. They’ve already established themselves as an amazing team, so to just be a part of this has been really exciting.”