Liberty Aiming for Third Straight IC4A Title
5/13/2009 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
A sizable contingent of 23 Liberty men's and women's track & field student-athletes will travel to Princeton, N.J., this weekend for the IC4A and ECAC Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The men's squad will attempt to claim its third consecutive IC4A title at the three-day meet, scheduled to get underway Friday afternoon at Weaver Track & Field Stadium.
Head coach Brant Tolsma's Flames are the only nationally ranked IC4A team in this week's U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Top 25. Liberty, which checks in at No. 23, will begin its title quest in the meet's first event. The trio of Clarence Murray (R-Sr., Birdsboro, Pa.), Daniel Newell (R-Sr., Roanoke, Va.) and Geren Woodbridge (R-So., Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) is entered in the decathlon, set for a 1 p.m. Friday start time.
The women's ECAC championship will begin one hour later Friday afternoon, with the heptathlon 100-meter hurdles. Liberty redshirt senior Marie Williams (Tampa, Fla.), one of the Lady Flames' best hopes at a high finish this weekend, will contest the multi-event discipline.
IC4A Meet Preview
Team Outlook
As the field's only nationally ranked team and the two-time defending champion, Liberty enters this weekend's meet as one of the favorites to earn the program's fourth IC4A title. The Flames possess star power in four-time All-American Sam Chelanga (R-So., Nairobi, Kenya). However, the Big South champions are deep, as the Flames will be represented in 14 different events this weekend.
Liberty does not need to look far to find one of its chief contenders for first place. Just north of Lynchburg on Route 29, Virginia has put together a formidable squad. The Cavaliers have finished as the IC4A runner-up each of the past two years and recently tied No. 3 Florida State for the ACC championship.
Other teams to watch include Albany (2009 IC4A indoor champion), Cornell (seven-time defending Heps meet champion), Georgetown (third-place team at the 2009 BIG EAST meet) and UNC Wilmington (three-time defending CAA meet champion).
Dominant in the Decathlon
Without question, the decathlon has been Liberty's strongest event in its 17 years of IC4A competition. The Flames have won the IC4A decathlon crown three of the last four seasons and 10 times overall. Newell, one of three Liberty decathletes who will be in action on Friday and Saturday, is the event's defending champion.
Newell scored a career-high and NCAA provisional-qualifying 7,255 points to claim the Big South decathlon title in April. He was followed in second and third place by teammates Woodbridge and Murray, respectively, both of whom are scheduled to compete at Princeton.
The top decathlon score posted by an IC4A decathlete so far this season is 7,326 by Duke's Tyler Clarke, when he finished third in the ACC decathlon. Clarke was the third-place finisher at the 2008 IC4A meet. Max Westman of Pennsylvania has tallied 7,128 points this year and his victories at the Penn Relays and Heps meet to his credit.
Catching Up with Chelanga
Chelanga has enjoyed a stellar outdoor track & field season, highlighted by his NCAA-record 27:28.48 clocking in the 10K, April 24 in Berkeley, Calif. This weekend, the sophomore will chase his first-ever IC4A championship. Chelanga was a two-time IC4A runner-up as a freshman in 2007, finishing behind former Liberty standout Josh McDougal in both the indoor and outdoor 5K races.
Unlike McDougal, who won the 1,500, 5K and 10K races in unprecedented fashion at the 2007 IC4A outdoor meet, Chelanga will focus on the 5K Friday evening at 8:45 p.m. He is ranked No. 2 on the current NCAA performance list with his season-best 13:28.31 effort.
Two other IC4A distance runners who have recorded fast 5,000-meter times this season include Princeton's Michael Maag at 13:41.17 and Providence's David McCarthy at 13:42.11.
Fun in the Field
Liberty racked up 36 points in the field events at the 2008 IC4A meet, including a quartet of top three performances. The Flames hope for similar success off the track this time around, with entrants in six of the eight field disciplines.
Two of last season's top finishers are back in 2009, as Matt Parker (Sr., Rome, N.Y.) was the high jump runner-up in a driving rainstorm and Clarence Powell (So., Marianna, Fla.) braved similar elements to place third in the triple jump.
Meanwhile, team newcomers Anthony Bryant (R-Fr., Charlottesville, Va.) and John Talbert (Fr., Newton, Kan.) are seeded highly in their respective events. Bryant enters Sunday morning's triple jump competition as the top seed, on the strength of his school and conference-record 52-0 leap at the Big South meet. However, Duke's Jade Ellis sailed out to 51-11.75 that same weekend to earn runner-up honors at the ACC championship. As a result, the triple jump could be one of the final day's most intriguing events.
Talbert's season-long 191-9 discus throw puts him second on the IC4A performance list, behind 2008 NCAA national runner-up Yemi Ayeni of Virginia. Ayeni, who has thrown 197-2 this year, edged current Liberty assistant coach Clendon Henderson to capture the 2008 IC4A discus crown. The men's discus will be the only field event held on Friday, scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m.
ECAC Meet Preview
What's Up with Williams?
At Liberty's first conference meet this spring, the Big South Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Williams had little time to rest. The redshirt senior competed in an incredible 13 events, scoring 33 points for the Lady Flames and earning Big South Women's Field Performer of the Year honors. This weekend, her schedule will be a bit less crowded.
Williams, the Big South heptathlon champion, will focus solely on the heptathlon at the ECAC meet. She has enjoyed some success at ECAC championships in the past, tying for fourth place in the pentathlon at the 2009 ECAC indoor meet and nabbing sixth place in the 2007 ECAC heptathlon.
Williams will face some talented competitors this weekend, including the BIG EAST heptathlon champion (Syracuse's Uhunoma Osazuwa), the CAA heptathlon champion (William & Mary's Katie Guevel), the MEAC heptathlon champion (Coppin State's Natoya Baird) and the ACC heptathlon runner-up (Maryland's Kiani Profit). Danielle McNaney was Liberty's most recent ECAC heptathlon champion, taking top honors as a senior in 2005.
Baton Banter
The Liberty women's 4 x 100 relay team of Olivia Charnuski (Fr., Elmira, Ontario), Alyssa Pegues (Fr., Warner Robins, Ga.), Chenoa Freeman (Jr., Lincoln, Del.) and Andrea Beckles (Sr., Lynchburg, Va.) has been consistent all season. The Lady Flames have won five races and posted the second-fastest time in program history (46.13) at the Big South meet.
Liberty also has a bit of extra motivation for this event. Freeman and Beckles were part of the Lady Flames' 4 x 100 relay squad which was only .08 seconds away from qualifying for the ECAC final in 2008. Last year, it took a time of 46.41 seconds to make the final. Liberty has run faster than that twice so far in 2009.
The Lady Flames will take the track for the 4 x 100 relay prelims Saturday at 2:45. If they are one of the top eight qualifiers, they will come back Sunday at noon for the event final.
Distance Carnival
Liberty will be represented in both the women's 5K and 10K races, under the Weaver Stadium lights Friday evening. Last season, the Lady Flames scored more than half of their team points during the ECAC's Friday night distance session, led by Carol Jefferson's runner-up finish at 10,000 meters.
Ashley Osborne (R-Jr., Bristol, Va.) will get things started at 7:40 p.m., when she runs the 5,000 meters. She qualified for the race by clocking a 17:21.79 at the Liberty Twilight Qualifier on April 30, narrowly missing the Matthes-Hopkins Track record. Liberty's 5K school record holder at 16:42.79, Osborne finished eighth in the event at the 2007 ECAC championship.
Dacia Bushman (So., Castalia, Iowa) will then compete in the 10,000-meter final at 8 p.m. Last season, Bushman recorded a personal-best 36:43.19 in the rain to place eighth in the ECAC 10K. Friday's race could feature a rematch between Bushman and VMI's Hannah Granger. The sophomore duo waged a back-and-forth battle at the Big South meet, before Granger won the race and Bushman took runner-up honors.
Head coach Brant Tolsma's Flames are the only nationally ranked IC4A team in this week's U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Top 25. Liberty, which checks in at No. 23, will begin its title quest in the meet's first event. The trio of Clarence Murray (R-Sr., Birdsboro, Pa.), Daniel Newell (R-Sr., Roanoke, Va.) and Geren Woodbridge (R-So., Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) is entered in the decathlon, set for a 1 p.m. Friday start time.
The women's ECAC championship will begin one hour later Friday afternoon, with the heptathlon 100-meter hurdles. Liberty redshirt senior Marie Williams (Tampa, Fla.), one of the Lady Flames' best hopes at a high finish this weekend, will contest the multi-event discipline.
IC4A Meet Preview
Team Outlook
As the field's only nationally ranked team and the two-time defending champion, Liberty enters this weekend's meet as one of the favorites to earn the program's fourth IC4A title. The Flames possess star power in four-time All-American Sam Chelanga (R-So., Nairobi, Kenya). However, the Big South champions are deep, as the Flames will be represented in 14 different events this weekend.
Liberty does not need to look far to find one of its chief contenders for first place. Just north of Lynchburg on Route 29, Virginia has put together a formidable squad. The Cavaliers have finished as the IC4A runner-up each of the past two years and recently tied No. 3 Florida State for the ACC championship.
Other teams to watch include Albany (2009 IC4A indoor champion), Cornell (seven-time defending Heps meet champion), Georgetown (third-place team at the 2009 BIG EAST meet) and UNC Wilmington (three-time defending CAA meet champion).
Dominant in the Decathlon
Without question, the decathlon has been Liberty's strongest event in its 17 years of IC4A competition. The Flames have won the IC4A decathlon crown three of the last four seasons and 10 times overall. Newell, one of three Liberty decathletes who will be in action on Friday and Saturday, is the event's defending champion.
Newell scored a career-high and NCAA provisional-qualifying 7,255 points to claim the Big South decathlon title in April. He was followed in second and third place by teammates Woodbridge and Murray, respectively, both of whom are scheduled to compete at Princeton.
The top decathlon score posted by an IC4A decathlete so far this season is 7,326 by Duke's Tyler Clarke, when he finished third in the ACC decathlon. Clarke was the third-place finisher at the 2008 IC4A meet. Max Westman of Pennsylvania has tallied 7,128 points this year and his victories at the Penn Relays and Heps meet to his credit.
Catching Up with Chelanga
Chelanga has enjoyed a stellar outdoor track & field season, highlighted by his NCAA-record 27:28.48 clocking in the 10K, April 24 in Berkeley, Calif. This weekend, the sophomore will chase his first-ever IC4A championship. Chelanga was a two-time IC4A runner-up as a freshman in 2007, finishing behind former Liberty standout Josh McDougal in both the indoor and outdoor 5K races.
Unlike McDougal, who won the 1,500, 5K and 10K races in unprecedented fashion at the 2007 IC4A outdoor meet, Chelanga will focus on the 5K Friday evening at 8:45 p.m. He is ranked No. 2 on the current NCAA performance list with his season-best 13:28.31 effort.
Two other IC4A distance runners who have recorded fast 5,000-meter times this season include Princeton's Michael Maag at 13:41.17 and Providence's David McCarthy at 13:42.11.
Fun in the Field
Liberty racked up 36 points in the field events at the 2008 IC4A meet, including a quartet of top three performances. The Flames hope for similar success off the track this time around, with entrants in six of the eight field disciplines.
Two of last season's top finishers are back in 2009, as Matt Parker (Sr., Rome, N.Y.) was the high jump runner-up in a driving rainstorm and Clarence Powell (So., Marianna, Fla.) braved similar elements to place third in the triple jump.
Meanwhile, team newcomers Anthony Bryant (R-Fr., Charlottesville, Va.) and John Talbert (Fr., Newton, Kan.) are seeded highly in their respective events. Bryant enters Sunday morning's triple jump competition as the top seed, on the strength of his school and conference-record 52-0 leap at the Big South meet. However, Duke's Jade Ellis sailed out to 51-11.75 that same weekend to earn runner-up honors at the ACC championship. As a result, the triple jump could be one of the final day's most intriguing events.
Talbert's season-long 191-9 discus throw puts him second on the IC4A performance list, behind 2008 NCAA national runner-up Yemi Ayeni of Virginia. Ayeni, who has thrown 197-2 this year, edged current Liberty assistant coach Clendon Henderson to capture the 2008 IC4A discus crown. The men's discus will be the only field event held on Friday, scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m.
ECAC Meet Preview
What's Up with Williams?
At Liberty's first conference meet this spring, the Big South Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Williams had little time to rest. The redshirt senior competed in an incredible 13 events, scoring 33 points for the Lady Flames and earning Big South Women's Field Performer of the Year honors. This weekend, her schedule will be a bit less crowded.
Williams, the Big South heptathlon champion, will focus solely on the heptathlon at the ECAC meet. She has enjoyed some success at ECAC championships in the past, tying for fourth place in the pentathlon at the 2009 ECAC indoor meet and nabbing sixth place in the 2007 ECAC heptathlon.
Williams will face some talented competitors this weekend, including the BIG EAST heptathlon champion (Syracuse's Uhunoma Osazuwa), the CAA heptathlon champion (William & Mary's Katie Guevel), the MEAC heptathlon champion (Coppin State's Natoya Baird) and the ACC heptathlon runner-up (Maryland's Kiani Profit). Danielle McNaney was Liberty's most recent ECAC heptathlon champion, taking top honors as a senior in 2005.
Baton Banter
The Liberty women's 4 x 100 relay team of Olivia Charnuski (Fr., Elmira, Ontario), Alyssa Pegues (Fr., Warner Robins, Ga.), Chenoa Freeman (Jr., Lincoln, Del.) and Andrea Beckles (Sr., Lynchburg, Va.) has been consistent all season. The Lady Flames have won five races and posted the second-fastest time in program history (46.13) at the Big South meet.
Liberty also has a bit of extra motivation for this event. Freeman and Beckles were part of the Lady Flames' 4 x 100 relay squad which was only .08 seconds away from qualifying for the ECAC final in 2008. Last year, it took a time of 46.41 seconds to make the final. Liberty has run faster than that twice so far in 2009.
The Lady Flames will take the track for the 4 x 100 relay prelims Saturday at 2:45. If they are one of the top eight qualifiers, they will come back Sunday at noon for the event final.
Distance Carnival
Liberty will be represented in both the women's 5K and 10K races, under the Weaver Stadium lights Friday evening. Last season, the Lady Flames scored more than half of their team points during the ECAC's Friday night distance session, led by Carol Jefferson's runner-up finish at 10,000 meters.
Ashley Osborne (R-Jr., Bristol, Va.) will get things started at 7:40 p.m., when she runs the 5,000 meters. She qualified for the race by clocking a 17:21.79 at the Liberty Twilight Qualifier on April 30, narrowly missing the Matthes-Hopkins Track record. Liberty's 5K school record holder at 16:42.79, Osborne finished eighth in the event at the 2007 ECAC championship.
Dacia Bushman (So., Castalia, Iowa) will then compete in the 10,000-meter final at 8 p.m. Last season, Bushman recorded a personal-best 36:43.19 in the rain to place eighth in the ECAC 10K. Friday's race could feature a rematch between Bushman and VMI's Hannah Granger. The sophomore duo waged a back-and-forth battle at the Big South meet, before Granger won the race and Bushman took runner-up honors.
Friday, June 05
Wednesday, June 03
Thursday, May 21
Thursday, January 29