Liberty University
ECAC/IC4A Indoor Track Championships
Two School Records Fall Saturday in Boston
3/5/2011 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Liberty juniors Olivia Charnuski and Isaac Wendland both broke school records during Saturday's action at the IC4A and ECAC Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships. Another junior, Christina Mitchell, placed third in the ECAC pentathlon, providing another of the Flames' many highlights in Boston.
Charnuski improved upon her own Liberty record in the women's 200-meter dash with a 24.87 clocking. Meanwhile, Wendland and Jarred Cornfield both shattered Chuck Lyngaas' men's 1,000-meter run mark which had stood since 1998. Wendland ran a 2:25.31 to establish the new standard, while Cornfield followed at 2:25.94.
Mitchell's effort accounted for six of the Lady Flames' eight team points Saturday inside the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center. Liberty is tied with Rhode Island, Maryland-Eastern Shore, St. John's and Manhattan for ninth place in the ECAC meet through five events. Connecticut tops the standings with 35.5 points.
On the men's side, Ryan Smith scored three points for the Flames with a sixth-place finish in the IC4A weight throw competition. As a result, Liberty shares 18th place with Pittsburgh through Saturday's four event finals. Connecticut also leads the IC4A meet with 17.5 points.
Women's ECAC Day One Recap
Charnuski had previously set the Liberty women's 200-meter dash record Feb. 12 in Fayetteville, Ark., when she ran a time of 25.01 seconds. On Saturday, the Canadian became the first Lady Flame ever to crack the 25-second barrier indoors. However, she was unable to make the final in a very competitive event.
Mitchell's third-place pentathlon finish was the best showing by a Lady Flame in the event since Danielle McNaney won the ECAC pentathlon title as a senior in 2005. Mitchell achieved the lofty finish by adding 154 points to her previous personal-best score. Mitchell's final tally of 3,651 points ranks No. 3 in program history.
Just one week after winning her first Big South pentathlon crown, Mitchell strung together five impressive events. After opening with a 9.21 clocking in the 60-meter hurdles, Mitchell tied for the competition's third-best high jump clearance at 5-5.
The junior then led all pentathletes with her 38-4.75 shot put, before notching pentathlon personal bests of 17-4 in the long jump and 2:28.55 in the 800-meter run.
Teammate Krystle Matthews also set a new personal best in the pentathlon on Saturday. Her final score of 3,353 points netted ninth place.
Continuing the string of personal bests, Dacia Bushman set a new one in the 5K, winning her heat in a time of 17:13.51. Her time held up for seventh place in the event and enabled the senior to leapfrog Heather Sagan and Ashley Osborne for the fourth spot on Liberty's all-time list.
The Lady Flames also gave themselves a chance to score more points on Sunday, qualifying for four different running event finals. Charnuski's season-best time of 8.66 seconds put her into the 60 hurdles final, while Alyssa Pegues' 7.67 effort claimed a spot in the 60 dash final.
Newly crowned Big South champions Meghan Burggraf and Jennifer Klugh both notched personal-best times in their specialty events and reached the finals. Burggraf sped to a time of 2:12.23 in the 800-meter run, while Klugh's 4:52.05 effort earned a berth in the mile final for the second straight year.
Men's IC4A Day One Recap
Chuck Lyngaas' 2:27.64 effort in the 1,000 at the 1998 IC4A meet had stood as Liberty's record for 13 years, before Wendland and Cornfield rewrote the record book on Saturday. Wendland's 2:25.31 clocking claimed a spot in Sunday's final, while Cornfield's 2:25.94 was the fastest time not to qualify. Both times rank among the top 50 nationally this year.
Smith, who was tabbed Big South Men's Outstanding Field Performer last week, stretched the tape to 59-6.25 on his first attempt in the weight throw. After finishing 10th in the event a year ago, the redshirt sophomore ended up sixth in 2011.
Taylor Courtney made it into the fast section of the 500-meter run final, thanks to a personal-best 1:03.20 clocking during Saturday's preliminaries. The effort places him No. 5 on Liberty's all-time performance list in the event.
Geren Woodbridge scored 2,722 points during the first four events of the heptathlon, putting him in ninth place at this juncture. The three-time defending Big South heptathlon champion sits just five points out of the eighth spot with three disciplines remaining to be completed Sunday.
Both the IC4A and ECAC Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships conclude on Sunday. Woodbridge and Taylor Schmidt will be the first Flames to compete, when the IC4A heptathlon resumes with the 60-meter hurdles at 9 a.m. Across town, Shelley Parker will get the Lady Flames' second day started, with the ECAC pole vault set to begin at 11 a.m.
Watch Isaac Wendland's record-setting 1,000-meter run:
Watch more video of 2011 IC4A Indoor Championships on flotrack.org
