Gordon, Hess Claim ASUN XC Freshman of the Week Awards
10/5/2022 2:11:28 PM | Cross Country
After running well at Friday’s Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational, Liberty’s Ava Gordon and Jacob Hess have swept this week’s ASUN Women’s and Men’s Cross Country Freshman of the Week awards.
Hess, who previously won this award on Sept. 21, joins Joe Spitzer (Oct. 2 & 23, 2019) as the only Flames to earn multiple ASUN Men’s Freshman of the Week honors in cross country. Gordon becomes the fourth Liberty freshman to win an ASUN weekly award this fall, joining Hess, Will Jefferson (Sept. 7 Men’s Freshman of the Week) and Kayla Werner (Sept. 21 Women’s Freshman of the Week).
A native of Leesburg, Va., Gordon shattered the Liberty freshman 5K record with her 16:34.7 clocking at Notre Dame. Teammate Adelyn Ackley-Fairley had held the record at 17:08.7 since 2019. She crossed the finish line 23rd overall, including second on the team and third among freshmen in the race. Gordon helped the Lady Flames place sixth in a field which featured five nationally ranked squads.
Hess served as Liberty’s No. 2 men’s runner for the second meet in a row, placing 84th in the men’s five-mile blue race at Notre Dame. The native of West Milton, Pa., clocked a time of 24:33.9 to finish seventh among freshmen.
Liberty will split its runners between two different meets on Oct. 15. The top Flames and Lady Flames will head to Stillwater, Okla., to preview the 2022 NCAA national meet course at the Weis-Crockett Invitational. Another group of Liberty runners will head to Earlysville, Va., for the Panorama Farms XC 23 Invitational at the site of the 2023 NCAA national meet.
