Liberty University
Big South Outdoor Track Championships
Liberty Wins 4 Events on Big South Day 1
5/14/2015 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Liberty owns both the men's and women's team lead after the opening day of the 2015 Big South Outdoor Track & Field Championships, thanks in large part to four event victories. Steve Feister (men's javelin), Ken Ritchey (men's pole vault), Kyle Wheeler (men's long jump) and Jennifer Smith (women's discus) each won their respective events on Thursday at Vert Stadium.
Through four events, the Liberty men's squad owns a sizeable 81-31 advantage over second-place Campbell. The Flames are in search of their 20th Big South outdoor team title, including their ninth in a row.
The women's team standings are considerably tighter through Thursday's four events. The Lady Flames are currently on top of defending conference champion Coastal Carolina by a 58-51 score.
Men's Day One Recap
The Flames jumped out to the lead from the get-go, racking up 25 team points in the meet's first men's event, the javelin. Feister led the way, recording the six longest throws of the competition, including his winning effort of 220-3 in round one.
Senior Daniel Klase earned his second straight Big South men's javelin runner-up finish, thanks to a 202-3 heave. Sophomore Zach Davis followed in fifth place, in his first of seven events on the day, with a personal-best mark of 186-4. Finally, Cody Bingham wrapped up his collegiate career with a personal-best 179-6 effort and a sixth-place finish.
Liberty added 25 more tallies in the pole vault, claiming four of the top five places. Ritchey captured his first Big South title by clearing 16-3.25. The Flames have now won this event 15 times in the meet's 22-year history.
Following Ritchey was the trio of Carson Waters (third place, 15-5.5), Alexandru Barker (fourth, 15-5.5) and Alex Geniesse (fifth, 14-5.5).
Wheeler became the Flames' first Big South outdoor men's long jump champion since Clarence Powell in 2010, doing so in dramatic fashion. The Texas native recorded a career-best leap of 24-0.25 on his sixth and final attempt, catapulting all the way from fifth place into the lead.
In the process, Wheeler put himself in contention to qualify for the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round meet. He is currently tied with teammate Aklesso Agama for 48th place in the East Region for the men's long jump.
Freshman Darrel Jones also picked a good time for the longest jump of his career, stretching the tape of 23-4 for third place. Agama (fifth place, 23-3.25) and Davis (eighth, 22-6.5) closed out the Flames' quartet of scorers.
All three of Liberty's men's 10K runners placed inside the top eight, paced by Titus Koech, who clocked 31:21.05 for fourth. Jeremie Bourget followed in fifth place in 31:26.67, marking his third career top-five finish in this event at the Big South meet. Sam Hibbs took eighth place in 31:55.78.
Davis leads the decathlon standings with 3,771 points through the opening day of competition. The New Jersey native topped the field of decathletes in the long jump (22-8), shot put (43-1.5) and high jump (season-best 6-9.75), before finishing his day with a personal-best 52.79 in the 400. Davis' high jump clearance should put him into the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round meet for that event.
Teammate Tevan McIntire sits in second place with a day one score of 3,699. He matched his season-best high jump clearance of 6-4 and sped to a personal-best time of 51.28 in the 400.
Women's Day One Recap
Smith overtook teammate Mychelle Cumings with a 154-11 discus throw in round five and then improved to a season-best 158-6 mark on her final attempt, claiming her second straight Big South women's discus crown. Smith also placed herself on the bubble for NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round qualification, climbing to No. 53 in the East Region.
Liberty has now captured four consecutive Big South women's discus titles, including Cumings' crowns in 2012 and 2013. On Thursday, the redshirt junior took the runner-up spot at 154-1 for her eighth career All-Big South notation.
Freshman Holly Arey added a point with an eighth-place discus finish, reaching 129-2.
Running just the second 10K of her career, Ednah Kurgat made a strong bid for the conference title. However, Coastal Carolina's Letitia Saayman pulled away on the final lap, relegating Kurgat to the runner-up spot in 35:10.16.
Meredith Mistretta chipped in a fourth-place finish in 37:09.73, while Caroline Parris punctuated her collegiate track career by pulling out eighth place on the final lap. Parris' time of 38:10.18 improved upon her previous 10K best by more than two minutes.
Freshman Brenna Smith stepped onto the All-Big South podium for the first time in her young career, throwing the javelin 138-5 for third place. She was followed closely by fellow Lady Flames Yana Babbitt (fourth place, 138-2) and Nicole Bishop (fifth, 136-10), while Arey claimed another eighth-place showing at 117-2.
Junior Janae Jones long jumped a career-best 18-7.25 for fourth place, while Melissa Rohwer's 18-6.5 leap netted the fifth position.
The Lady Flames are in good position to win the Big South heptathlon title for the fifth straight year, as Erika Jackson tops the day one standings with 2,963 points and Audrey Bamford sits in second with 2,840. Jackson ranked first among the heptathletes in three of Thursday's four disciplines, including the 100 hurdles (14.88), high jump (personal-best 5-3.25) and 200 (26.25).
Bamford threw the day's second-longest shot put (36-4) and recorded a 200-meter dash personal-best of 26.38.
Sisters Abigail and Kate Flower clocked the two fastest times in the women's 200 preliminary heats, each fashioning their fastest performances of the season despite slight headwinds. Abigail's time of 23.71 moves her into the top 48 on the East Region list, while Kate's personal-best 24.58 effort ranks No. 8 in program history.
Sophomore Mary Witmer also made a move upward on Liberty's all-time top 10 list while qualifying for Saturday's women's 400 hurdles final. She now ranks third in Lady Flames annals with her time of 60.65 seconds.
Action will resume Friday at 11 a.m. with the start of the men's discus. The decathlon 110-meter hurdles will get things started on the track at 1 p.m.
