Liberty University
Liberty Twilight Qualifier
Liberty Wins 10 Events at Twilight Qualifier
5/4/2016 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Liberty closed out the regular-season portion of the 2016 outdoor track & field season in impressive fashion on Wednesday, winning 10 events at the Liberty Twilight Qualifier. Seniors Erin Edmond, Kate Flower, Fred Fulton and David Scouten contributed to three of those victories on Senior Day at the Matthes-Hopkins Track Complex.
Warm, sunny conditions dominated the day, marking a stark contrast to the brisk wind and occasional snow flurries which plagued the Flames' previous home meet, the Liberty Collegiate Invitational. As a result, numerous impressive marks were posted, including a pair of facility records.
In the day's opening event, Allison Randall shattered the women's discus facility record with a mark of 188-9. A pair of 2015 NCAA women's hammer All-Americans then took down that event's standard, in Winthrop's Marthaline Cooper (205-10) and Liberty alum Jocelyn Williams (204-9).
Women's Meet Recap
The Lady Flames' quartet of Nicole Leonzo, Flower, Dana Mercer and Edmond was victorious in the 4 x 100 relay, clocking a time of 46.75 seconds. That highlighted a successful day for the team's sprinters and mid-distance runners.
Delaney McDowell (2:09.10) and Ansley Gebben (2:09.55) went 1-2 in the women's 800. Teammates Hannah Scherlacher (2:15.90) and Jasmin Sutton (2:15.94) followed in seventh and eighth place, respectively, with both cutting significant time off of their previous personal bests.
Flower sped to a personal-best time of 11.76 seconds in the 100 dash prelims before placing third in the final at 11.80. The senior's preliminary time ties her for the 2016 Big South lead and moves her into fourth place in program history.
Edmond added a runner-up finish at 400 meters, crossing the line in 54.43 seconds.
Freshman Leonzo notched personal-best times in both the 200 (eighth place, 24.50) and 400 (fourth, 55.50), climbing to eighth on the Lady Flames' all-time list for both distances. The Pennsylvania native's 400 clocking set a Liberty freshman record, eclipsing the mark of 55.76 set by Chenoa Freeman in 2007.
Erin Zappia won the women's high jump with an outdoor-best clearance of 5-5.25. The sophomore now ranks seventh in program history. Riley Brandon tied for third at 5-1.25.
Dasiana Larson was the Lady Flames' final event winner, thanks to her 43-5 mark in the shot put.
However, Larson's most impressive mark of the day actually came in the hammer, where the sophomore improved her personal best by nearly 12 feet. Her top throw of 185-5 placed fourth in the event, ranks third in program history and puts her on the bubble for qualification to the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round meet.
Teammate Catherine Oyarzun added more than eight feet to her previous hammer best, stretching the tape to 177-6 for fifth place in both the event and on Liberty's all-time top 10 list.
Rounding out the women's throws, Holly Arey and Mychelle Cumings finished 3-4 in the discus with matching throws of 139-8. Meanwhile, Brandon equaled her season best of 118-2 for fourth place in the javelin.
Oasis Hernandez continued her impressive comeback from injury, finishing as the triple jump runner-up. Her 39-5 leap trailed only redshirting teammate Janae Jones' winning effort of 40-7.
Mariel Finger tied for fourth place with a pole vault clearance of 11-8.
Returning to the track, Alexis Taylor's strong finish netted second place and a time of 4:45.75 in the 1,500. Teammate Terrill Zentmeyer clocked a personal-best 4:47.95 for the fifth spot.
Kaitlyn Hutchins improved her best steeplechase time by 15 seconds, posting a 12:11.47 for second place.
Men's Meet Recap
Five of the Flames' victories came in field events, including triumphs by seniors Fulton (discus) and Scouten (hammer).
Fulton dominated the discus competition, as his top mark of 182-9 was 18 feet clear of second place. Fulton, who reached 178-6 or better on three throws on Wednesday, now ranks inside the top 20 in the East Region.
Scouten, who placed third in the discus at 164-5, went on to win the hammer with a season-best 184-11 toss in round six.
Freshmen stood out for the Flames in the other two throwing events, including Denzel Pratt's fourth men's javelin victory of his rookie year. The Bahamian threw 207-9 to win by more than 22 feet.
In the men's shot put, freshman Robert Detz recorded a personal-best 52-5.25 for second place, finishing ahead of both Fulton (fourth, 51-10) and Scouten (sixth, 48-4).
Sophomore Carson Waters vanquished the reigning Big South indoor (High Point's Austin Miller) and outdoor (teammate Ken Ritchey) men's pole vault champions to win the event at 16-9.5, adding a half inch to his previous personal best. Ritchey and Alex Geniesse each made it over 15-9.75 to place third and fourth, respectively.
After placing fifth in the long jump at 22-8, Aklesso Agama triple jumped a season-best 49-5 for victory. Fellow Floridian Jonny Saintil came in third with a season-best mark of 47-0.75.
Closing out the field events, Zach Davis was the high jump runner-up at 6-5.
Cameron Francis was the only Flame to win a track event, outracing Big South leader Alejandro Juan Torres of High Point down the home stretch of the 1,500 to do so. Francis finished in 3:50.18, setting a personal best by more than three seconds and moving into eighth place in Liberty history.
Sam Hibbs won the other heat of the men's 1,500 and placed fifth overall with a personal-best 3:59.45 clocking.
The Liberty Twilight Qualifier often produces blazing sprint times, and Wednesday was no exception. For example, it took a time of 10.49 to reach the men's 100 final, which was won by Darrell Wesh in 10.15.
Freshman Greg Edwards paced the Flames' sprinters in both the 100 (18th place, 10.83) and 200 (14th, 21.69), setting personal bests in each.
Four total Flames broke 22 seconds in the 200, also including Stephen Racanelli (15th, 21.72), Spencer Jamison (20th, personal-best 21.87) and Ryan Davis (21st, personal-best 21.96).
In the 400, a trio of Liberty runners came in under 49 seconds, including Racanelli (sixth, 48.27), Jeff Jacobs (seventh, outdoor-best 48.71) and Jamison (ninth, 48.97).
Freshman Bradley Prentice won his heat of the men's 800 and finished as the overall runner-up in 1:52.56. Colin Schultz followed in fifth place at 1:53.65, while Luke Jelen's personal-best time of 1:54.62 stood up for eighth place. Jelen became the sixth Flame to go under 1:55 in the men's 800 this season.
Ryan Davis placed sixth in the men's 110 hurdles final in 14.71 seconds, following a season-best 14.59 effort in the prelims.
Louis Paone was Liberty's top finisher in the men's steeplechase, coming in fourth at 9:48.05.
In the evening's final race, nine Liberty track & field alumni competed in a combined men's and women's 10K. Josh MacDonald was the overall winner in 32:36.03, while Jacy Christiansen finished fifth overall and second among women in 37:48.61, headlining the alumni's efforts.
For the eighth time in program history, Liberty will play host to the Big South Outdoor Track & Field Championships, May 10-12 at the Matthes-Hopkins Track Complex. Both the Flames and Lady Flames will attempt to defend their titles from 2015, with the men's squad seeking its 10th consecutive outdoor conference championship.
