Liberty University
Liberty Collegiate Invitational
Liberty Wins 14 Events on Windy Saturday
4/9/2016 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
On a cold, windy Saturday at the Matthes-Hopkins Track Complex, Liberty athletes posted 14 victories during the second and final day of the Liberty Collegiate Invitational. Flames Ryan Davis (men's 110 hurdles, 400 hurdles) and Mychelle Cumings (women's shot put, discus) won two events apiece.
Saturday's temperature topped out in the mid 40s, the wind gusted to over 40 mph at times and scattered snow flurries greeted the athletes during the morning. Due to the adverse conditions, eight events were not contested at all, including the men's 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 and the women's 4 x 100, steeplechase, 100 hurdles, 400 hurdles, 4 x 400 and pole vault.
Men's Day Two Recap
Davis won the men's 110 hurdles (15.08) and 400 hurdles (54.46) despite having little rest between the two events due to Saturday's rolling time schedule. Teammate Blake Kohring followed in second place in both events, clocking 15.10 for the 110 hurdles and 56.27 for the 400 hurdles.
The Flames fared well in the mid-distance races, finishing 1-2 in both the men's 800 and 1,500. Colin Schultz's first 800-meter race of the season resulted in a winning time of 1:56.50, with Luke Jelen claiming runner-up honors in 1:59.77.
Jacob Onifer was victorious at 1,500 meters, clocking 4:16.80 to defeat second-place Sam Hibbs (4:18.91).
Running the longest track race of his collegiate career, Cameron Francis took home the 5K title in 15:13.61.
Flames Alex Geniesse (13-5.25), Luke Moffett (12-11.5) and Dean Palmer (11-11.75) were the only three athletes daring enough to contest the men's pole vault Saturday afternoon.
Liberty also swept the top three spots in the men's shot put, including Fred Fulton (51-6.25), Robert Detz (48-1.25) and Lewis Williams (season-best 38-10.5).
Detz later won the men's discus competition with a 130-11 heave.
Caleb Rider completed his first decathlon in third place with a score of 5,438, while fellow freshman Michael Fairfax's decathlon debut resulted in a fifth-place showing (5,126).
Rider had the top pole vault clearance among the decathletes (11-9.75), while Fairfax ran well in both of Saturday's track events, including a personal-best 16.17 effort in the 110 hurdles and a 4:55.86 1,500.
Competing unattached, Liberty freshman Brad Smalley won the men's triple jump (43-10) and took second place in the long jump (21-0.5).
Women's Day Two Recap
Cumings headlined the Lady Flames' domination of Saturday's throwing events, winning the shot put (45-10.5) and discus (146-11).
Dasiana Larson followed as the shot put runner-up (42-11), with Holly Arey (37-5) making it a Lady Flames sweep of the top three spots. Earlier, Arey had finished second to Cumings in the discus at 139-7.
Hannah Scherlacher was arguably the most impressive of the Lady Flames' four victors on the track, slicing through the wind to a personal-best 800 time of 2:18.65.
Kat Bouton (4:57.04) and Terrill Zentmeyer (5:02.08) were the top two finishers in the women's 1,500.
Liberty's other victories on the oval went to freshman Bailey Reeves in the 200 (26.16) and senior Mary Cate Cooper in the 5K (19:49.20).
Freshman Dominique Nelson recorded the best marks of her young collegiate career in both the long jump (16-8.75) and triple jump (35-5.25), finishing second to Janae Jones in each event. Jones, who is redshirting the 2016 outdoor season, long jumped 17-0 and triple jumped 38-10.25 into a headwind.
Seniors Audrey Bamford (4,077) and Jessica Harrison (4,015) placed third and fourth, respectively, in their first heptathlon competition of the season. Bamford opened the day with the top long jump among the heptathletes (16-9.25), before Harrison topped the field in the day's final two disciplines (javelin, 97-4 and 800, 2:35.73).
Liberty's athletes will be spread out from coast to coast this coming week. Eight Flames and Lady Flames will head to California for the Mt. SAC Relays and Bryan Clay Invitational, Wednesday through Friday. The remainder of the team will square off against competitors from Coastal Carolina and High Point in the team-scored Big South Triangular, Friday in High Point, N.C.
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