Liberty Track & Field Signs Five
2/9/2011 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Liberty Head Men's and Women's Track & Field Coach Brant Tolsma has announced that Audrey Bamford, Cody Bingham, Jacy Christiansen, Mychelle Cumings and Jennifer Nicholson have signed national letters of intent to attend Liberty University for the 2011-12 academic year.
The group includes two women's throwers (Cumings and Nicholson), two multi-event athletes (Bamford and Bingham) and a distance runner (Christiansen).
"We are really off to a strong start on our recruiting, especially when it comes to women's throwers." noted Tolsma. "Coach Henderson is helping to draw high-level throwers to Liberty.
"Things are improving in every aspect of our program, and we're seeing that carry over to recruiting. This is the most athletes we have ever signed this early.
"We feel that all five of these individuals have selected Liberty because the personal goal of their athletic lives parallels our mission to honor Jesus Christ with our abilities."
Full profiles of the five signees follow.
Audrey Bamford (Elizabethtown, Pa.) has been a standout in several different events at Elizabethtown Area High School. She qualified for the Pennsylvania state meet in both the 100-meter hurdles and long jump in 2010. Bamford finished sixth in the long jump at the 2009 indoor state meet, thanks to a 17-4.5 leap. She also owns personal bests of 14.85 in the 100 hurdles and 5-3 in the high jump.
"Audrey was recruited to be a heptathlete," stated Tolsma. "She has done the hurdles, high jump and long jump, so she will have to learn a few new events. We are optimistic that she can be competitive in the multi events."
Cody Bingham (Lynchburg, Va.) is the son of Liberty Associate Head Track & Field Coach Lance Bingham and the brother of former Liberty heptathlete Brittany (Bingham) Werth. He attends Liberty Christian Academy, where he was named the 2010 News & Advance Boys' Outdoor Track & Field Athlete of the Year. Bingham is the two-time defending VISAA state pole vault champion, owning a personal best of 15-3.
At the 2010 VISAA State Championships, Bingham scored 52 points in eight different events. In addition to his pole vault title, he was second in the 110 hurdles, 300 hurdles and 4 x 400 relay, third in the long jump and triple jump, fourth in the discus and fifth in the high jump. Bingham's other notable personal bests include 14.73 in the 110 hurdles and 39.78 in the 300 hurdles.
"More than any of our other signees, Cody knows what he's getting into," Tolsma quipped. "And more than any of our other signees, we know what we're getting in Cody. He is not only a promising young athlete, but also a great young man.
"Cody could help us immediately in the pole vault and hurdles, but we expect his greatest impact to come in the heptathlon and decathlon. He will be joining an already strong group of decathletes."
Jacy Christiansen (Ipswich, N.H.) has been running for many years. The senior at Mascenic Regional High School holds an American age group record, thanks to the 23:39 5K she clocked at the age of five. Christiansen has not slowed down since then. She was the New Hampshire Division III state cross country runner-up in 2010, following her 1,600 and 3,200-meter state titles on the track last spring.
On the national scene, Christiansen came in seventh in the 5K at the 2010 Nike Indoor Nationals. Her personal-best times include 4:57 in the 1,600, 10:38 in the 3,200 and 17:44 in the 5K.
"Jacy has a tremendous amount of experience and comes from a running family," explained Tolsma. "She is one of the most elite female distance recruits we have ever signed. We expect that Jacy will contribute to the continued development of our women's distance running program."
Mychelle Cumings (Nashville, Tenn.) attends Hunters Lane High School. Last season, she swept the Tennessee AAA state championships in both the shot put (43-4.5) and discus (142-8). It marked Cumings' third consecutive state shot put title and her second discus crown in a row. She also boasts a discus personal best of 149-0.75.
Jennifer Nicholson (Charleston, Mo.) is the first female athlete at East Prairie High School ever to receive a Division I athletic scholarship. Last season, she was the Missouri Class 2 state champion in the discus (144-6) and took fourth place in the shot. Nicholson then went on to win the discus title at the 2010 AAU Junior Olympic national meet, with a personal-best toss of 145-3. Nicholson, who has also scored more than 1,000 points on the basketball hardwood, has thrown the shot put 41-5.5.
Speaking of Cumings and Nicholson collectively, Tolsma stated, "Getting two state champions should be a great addition to our team. Both Mychelle and Jennifer are already at Big South competitor and ECAC qualification levels. The goal is to get them to the national level."
