Liberty University
Virginia Cup
Liberty Men's Track Wins 3rd Straight Virginia Cup
3/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
For the third consecutive year, the Liberty men's track & field team went undefeated at the Virginia Cup, contested Saturday at Lannigan Field. Meanwhile, the Lady Flames were victorious in three of their four duals, falling only to host Virginia.
Stephen Racanelli (200, 400) and Aklesso Agama (long jump, triple jump) were both double event winners for the Flames, who improved to 9-0 in dual meets at the last three Virginia Cups. On Saturday, Liberty defeated Virginia by an 84-65 score and took down Norfolk State, 130-18.
Dana Mercer was a part of two event victories for the Lady Flames, including the long jump and 4 x 100 relay. She helped Liberty post wins over James Madison (128-35), Norfolk State (129-28) and Radford (124-37). Meet champion Virginia edged the Lady Flames by a 93-69 count.
Men's Meet Recap
Agama got his day started by triple jumping an outdoor personal-best 49-10.5 to win the event and climb to fifth place in program history. Freshman teammate Darrel Jones followed in second place with a 46-6.25 leap.
Agama and Jones later recorded a 1-3 finish in the men's long jump, with both reaching personal-best marks. Agama sailed out to 24-0.25, with Jones landing at 22-9.75.
Personal bests were also abundant in the pole vault, as Ken Ritchey cleared an outdoor personal-best 16-0.75 to claim his second straight Virginia Cup title and lead a 1-2-3 sweep by the Flames. Alexandru Barker (personal-best 15-7) and Lewis Williams (personal-best 14-7.25) followed in second and third, respectively.
Reigning Big South Men's Field Athlete of the Week Fred Fulton recorded a trio of top-three finishes on Saturday. His victory came in the men's hammer, where he spearheaded another 1-2-3 Liberty sweep. Fulton's winning hammer toss of 175-8 ranks ninth in program history. David Scouten (167-7) and Trevor VanAsselt (personal-best 161-3) claimed the next two spots.
Fulton heaved the shot put 58-8 for second place in the event and third in Liberty history. Scouten's 50-0.5 effort left him in third place.
Fulton added a third-place finish in the discus, with his 167-10 mark putting him at No. 8 on the Flames' all-time list.
Steve Feister successfully defended his Virginia Cup men's javelin title, setting a new personal best for the second consecutive week at 221-11. Daniel Klase's season-best 213-8 throw was good for the runner-up position. Both Feister and Klase hit their biggest throws in the opening round.
Kyle Wheeler was the Flames' final men's field event winner on the day, taking top honors in the high jump with his first-attempt clearance at 6-5.
On the track, Racanelli's victories came in a wind-aided time of 21.74 for 200 meters and a personal-best 48.09 clocking at the 400-meter distance.
Ryan Davis took home the Virginia Cup men's 400 hurdles title for the second year in a row, thanks to a 53.95 effort.
John Sherret led wire-to-wire in a dominating 800-meter victory, crossing the line in 1:52.52.
Sherret later joined Ryan Versen, Jeff Jacobs and Trevor Hope on the runner-up 4 x 400 relay team, which clocked 3:19.82.
Liberty runners came in second and third in both the 100 dash and 110 hurdles. In the 100, a strong wind helped runner-up Joey Imhoff (10.97) and third-place Agama (10.99) both crack the 11-second barrier.
In the 110 hurdles, McIntire (15.09) and Davis (15.10) crossed the finish line nearly side-by-side. The race marked Davis' collegiate debut in the event.
Another runner making his collegiate debut in an event on Saturday was Sam Hibbs at 1,500 meters. He paced the Flames' metric milers with a time of 4:00.31 for third place. Teammate Will Templeton notched third place in the 3K at 9:04.81.
Women's Meet Recap
Four of the five events the Lady Flames won at the Virginia Cup came in the field, including a 1-2 finish in the long jump. Mercer reached a personal-best 18-9.25 for the victory and the No. 10 position in program history.
Long jump runner-up Melissa Rohwer (18-7) had earlier triumphed in the triple jump with a 38-9.75 leap.
Mychelle Cumings won the women's discus title by 10 feet with her 163-9 mark. Two-time defending Virginia Cup champion Jennifer Smith took third place at 151-0. Freshman Holly Arey ended up fifth at 130-10, moving into Liberty's all-time top 10.
Smith was victorious in Saturday's women's hammer competition with a personal-best 166-6 effort on her sixth and final throw. Arey (third place, 144-4) and Dasiana Larson (fourth, 143-11) each reached new personal bests, moving to ninth and 10th, respectively, in Liberty history.
Liberty's lone track victory came in the 4 x 100 relay, as Olivia Davis, Abigail Flower, Mercer and Kate Flower teamed up for a 46.69 clocking.
The Lady Flames took three of the top spots in the women's pole vault, paced by Jessie Glynn. She came in second at an outdoor personal-best 11-11.75 which puts her in a tie for fifth on Liberty's all-time list. Mariel Finger and Chandler Fraley each made it over 10-11.75 for fourth and fifth places.
Cumings finished as the shot put runner-up with a 48-0.5 heave. Larson reached an outdoor personal-best 42-8 for fourth both in the event and in Lady Flames history.
Brenna Smith achieved a javelin personal best for the second consecutive meet to open her career, reaching 137-9 for third place. She moved into seventh place on Liberty's all-time list in the process.
Rounding out the field events, freshman Erin Zappia reached 5-2.5 in the high jump for fourth place.
Two of the Lady Flames' 4 x 100 legs found success in individual running events. Abigail Flower clocked 23.96 for second place in the 200, while Davis posted a personal-best 100 time of 11.97.
Ansley Gebben (1:02.10) and Mary Witmer (1:03.95) went 2-3 in the women's 400 hurdles final, while Olivia Behymer (56.35) took second in the 400 dash and ninth in program history.
Gebben, Witmer and Behymer were joined by Corinn Bedell on the Lady Flames' second-place 4 x 400 relay quartet, which clocked 3:51.96.
Erika Jackson sped to a personal-best 100 hurdles time of 14.74 seconds for fourth place.
Liberty will divide its athletes between a pair of prestigious relay meets next week. Some Flames and Lady Flames will head to Austin, Texas for the Texas Relays (Thursday through Saturday). Others will compete in the Raleigh Relays in Raleigh, N.C. (Friday and Saturday).
