Liberty University
Liberty Elite Invitational
Engle, Peterlin Pace Liberty on Indoor Track Opening Day
1/21/2021 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Appropriately, Lance Bingham's first day of competition as Liberty Director of Track & Field and Cross Country consisted solely of multi events, Thursday at the Liberty Indoor Track Complex. He oversaw freshman Meredith Engle's fourth-place pentathlon finish and coached Cole Peterlin to sixth place through the opening day of his first-ever heptathlon during day one of the Liberty Elite Invitational.
Like many athletes these days, Engle had been waiting a long time to return to competition. Prior to Thursday, her last meet was the Pennsylvania state meet in May 2019, wrapping up Engle's junior season at Northern High School.
Engle steadily climbed the leaderboard throughout the day, with top marks including a 35-6.5 shot put and a 2:32.36 800 clocking. She ended up in fourth place of 14 pentathletes with 3,221 points, including second among collegiate entrants.
Sophomore Myiah Scott (ninth place, 3,002 points) and freshman Nanah Fung Loy (10th place, 2,765 points) also posted top-10 finishes for the Lady Flames.
Peterlin totaled 2,670 points during the first day of his heptathlon debut, putting the sophomore in sixth place of 15 and first among collegians. He closed his Thursday with a 6-4.25 high jump clearance that was just a half inch off his collegiate best.
Bingham, who primarily works with the Flames' multi-event athletes and pole vaulters, is in the midst of his first meet as head of the Liberty track & field program. He served as an assistant on previous head coach Brant Tolsma's staff for 18 years (1995-2001 and 2004-16).
Thursday marked the first time Bingham has coached at the Liberty Indoor Track Complex, which is beginning its fifth season of competition. A pair of post-collegiate competitors set new facility records on the day, including Sarah Glidden in the pentathlon high jump (5-8.5) and her Athletic Lab Track Club teammate Dylan Cooper in the heptathlon shot put (49-8.5). Romanian Beatrice Puiu won the pentathlon with 4,036 points, becoming the second pentathlete in the world to score 4,000+ points in 2021.
Up Next
Day two of the Liberty Elite Invitational will begin with the heptathlon 60 hurdles, Friday at 1:30 p.m. at the Liberty Indoor Track Complex. The meet is closed to the general public.
