Liberty sweeps ASUN Indoor Track & Field Championships at home

Liberty University’s men’s and women’s squads swept the team titles at the 2022 ASUN Indoor Track & Field Championships, which concluded Saturday at the Brant Tolsma Indoor Track at the Liberty Indoor Track Complex, but the results came in much different ways.

The men’s team dominated the competition, outdistancing runner-up Kennesaw State by 90 points (254-164) for the Flames’ largest margin of victory since joining the ASUN Conference. The Flames picked up their fourth consecutive ASUN indoor title and their 25^th straight indoor conference crown overall, dating back to the inaugural Big South Indoor Track & Field Championships in 1998. Liberty has never lost a men’s indoor track & field conference meet at the NCAA Division I level.

Meanwhile, the Lady Flames found themselves locked in a tight duel with Kennesaw State for the second year in a row. This time, Liberty pulled out an eight-point victory (165.5-157.5) after the Owls had prevailed by five points in 2021. This was the Lady Flames’ third championship in four all-time appearances at the ASUN Indoor Track & Field Championships.

Second-year head coach Lance Bingham was voted ASUN Men’s and Women’s Coach of the Year. Quinten Clay (Most Valuable Male Performer) and Meredith Engle (Most Valuable Female Performer) swept the individual awards by virtue of their point totals.

Clay led all athletes with 28 points, with victories in the men’s long jump and triple jump and a runner-up finish in the high jump. Engle’s 23 points were the most of any female athlete, as she captured first place in the pentathlon, second in the women’s high jump, and fourth in the women’s triple jump.

Clay (triple jump, 48 feet, 11.75 inches) was one of Liberty’s six event winners on Saturday, bringing the Flames’ total to 13 first-place finishes at the two-day meet. Ryan Drew (men’s mile, 4:02.10) and Naomi Mojica (women’s shot put, 52-4.75) each broke meet records. Christian Lyon (60, 6.72) and Diamantae Griffin (200, 21.15) won the two shortest men’s sprints. Griffin, Ally Kipchirchir, Michael Rose, and Felix Lawrence then put an exclamation point on the Flames’ team performance by winning the 1,600 relay in 3:13.70.

Read more on the ASUN Conference championship and follow the Flames and Lady Flames at LibertyFlames.com.