Liberty Sweeps 1st ASUN Outdoor Track Weekly Awards of Season
3/17/2021 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
After winning 17 events during the 2021 outdoor season-opening Lynchburg Hornet Open on Saturday, Liberty swept the six ASUN Conference weekly awards on Wednesday. The Flames' honorees included Abby Pantlitz (Women's Track Athlete of the Week), Mackenzie Hainley (Women's Field Athlete of the Week), Megan Mann (Women's Freshman of the Week), Michael Rose (Men's Track Athlete of the Week), John Hicks (Men's Field Athlete of the Week) and Luke Anderson (Men's Freshman of the Week).
Coming off a strong finish to her indoor season, Pantlitz made an impressive collegiate outdoor debut. The Navarre, Fla., native won both of her events, leading off for the 4 x 100 relay squad (47.84) and claiming victory in the 100 dash (11.97). Her 100 time currently ranks No. 14 nationally. This is Pantlitz's second ASUN Track Athlete of the Week award of 2021, as she was previously honored on Feb. 10.
The defending ASUN women's javelin champion, Hainley won the event with a personal-best mark of 147-11. The sophomore from Denver, Pa., now ranks No. 4 in program history and No. 13 nationally this season.
Mann won the women's discus with a 149-1 effort which ranks the Mechanicsville, Va., native eighth in program history and No. 25 nationally this season. She also placed second in the women's hammer at 159-1.
Rose captured the men's 400 title in an outdoor personal-best time of 48.78 on Saturday. The Suffolk, Va., native currently ranks No. 24 nationally for the one-lap event.
Competing in the hammer for the first time in his collegiate career, Hicks unleashed a 199-3 heave to win the competition. The native of Romney, W.Va., broke the Liberty freshman record and ranks No. 2 on the Flames' all-time list with the best mark by a Liberty men's hammer thrower since 2008. Hicks currently ranks No. 5 nationally and put himself in contention for a berth at the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round meet.
Anderson won both of his events on Saturday, sweeping the men's 110 hurdles (15.12) and 400 hurdles (54.66) titles. The Mt. Airy, Md., native sits No. 18 on the NCAA national list for the 400 hurdles and No. 29 in the 110 hurdles.
Liberty will be back in action at this weekend's Alan Connie Shamrock Invitational in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Events are slated to begin at 10 a.m. on both Friday and Saturday at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium.
