Liberty Track Set for Team-Scored Meet of Champions
4/14/2022 9:44:45 AM | Track and Field
Liberty will compete at High Point’s Vert Stadium for the second time in three weeks, this Saturday. This time around, the Flames will take part in the team-scored Meet of Champions against Charlotte, Duke, Elon, High Point and North Carolina A&T.
The inaugural Meet of Champions is so named because all six participating schools captured team conference championships in 2021. Moreover, three of the participating squads are currently nationally ranked. The women’s meet will feature No. 16 Duke and No. 21 North Carolina A&T, while the men’s meet will include No. 20 North Carolina A&T.
How to Follow the Flames and Lady Flames
The meet will be video streamed on ESPN+ beginning at 2:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
Live results, featuring race splits and live field event updates, will be provided by Flash Results.
Weather Report
Saturday’s forecast in High Point calls for some early rain showers with overcast skies later on. The high temperature is expected to be around 70 degrees.
Meet of Champions Preview
The Meet of Champions will be Liberty’s first regular-season team-scored meet since March 22, 2019. That day, the men’s and women’s teams both placed third at the FSU Relays in Tallahassee, Fla.
The top six finishers in each event will score team points (10-8-6-4-2-1), with the men’s and women’s team champions being recognized at the meet’s conclusion.
Liberty owns the No. 1 seed marks in the following events: women’s shot put (Naomi Mojica), women’s hammer (Grace Artis), men’s 100 (Diamantae Griffin), men’s 200 (Diamantae Griffin), men’s 800 (Ally Kipchirchir), men’s 110 hurdles (Felix Lawrence), men’s 4 x 100 relay (Letts, Griffin, Lyon, McClinton), men’s high jump (Kennedy Sauder), men’s long jump (Quinten Clay), men’s shot put (Kyle Mitchell) and men’s hammer (John Hicks).
The Flames set or tied records in three different events at Vert Stadium two weeks ago, and all of the record setters are back in those same events on Saturday. The men’s 4 x 100 relay quartet of Brandon Letts, Diamantae Griffin, Christian Lyon and Donald McClinton ran a Liberty and ASUN-record time of 39.44. Griffin later tied his own Liberty and ASUN records with a 20.63 clocking in the 200. Finally, Kevin Nedrick’s 186-3 discus effort set an ASUN all-time record.
Kennedy Sauder is scheduled to make his collegiate outdoor track & field debut on Saturday after earning second team All-America honors in the high jump indoors. He is one of four entrants in the men’s high jump seeded at 7-0 or higher, also including teammate Quinten Clay.
The Liberty outdoor men’s high jump record (7-1) was set by Matt Parker in 2009 and matched by Kyle Wheeler in 2012. Wheeler’s 7-1 clearance also stands as the program freshman standard.
Record Setters
Liberty has been rewriting the record books during the opening month of the 2022 outdoor season.
New ASUN Records
March 25 – Men’s 4 x 100 – 39.65 by Letts, Griffin, Lyon & McClinton (Old Record: 39.68 by ETSU, 3/31/07)
April 1 – Women’s 5K – 15:54.98 by Adelyn Ackley (Old Record: 16:10.19 by Ackley, 4/16/21)
April 1 – Men’s 5K – 13:40.82 by Ryan Drew (Old Record: 13:53.30 by Drew, 5/1/21)
April 2 – Men’s Discus – 186-3 by Kevin Nedrick (Old Record: 186-3 by Kennesaw State’s Daniel Haugh, 5/11/19)
April 2 – Men’s 4 x 100 – 39.44 by Letts, Griffin, Lyon & McClinton (Old Record: 39.65 by Letts, Griffin, Lyon & McClinton, 3/25/22)
New Program Records
March 19 – Women’s 100 – 11.48 by Isis Brooks (Old Record: 11.57 by Abigail Flower, 4/19/13)
March 24 – Men’s 1,500 – 3:41.87 by Ryan Drew (Old Record: 3:43.05 by Drew, 5/5/21)
March 25 – Men’s 4 x 100 – 39.65 by Letts, Griffin, Lyon & McClinton (Old Record: 39.86 by McFadden, Swinton, McDuffie & Marriott, 5/18/96)
April 2 – Men’s 4 x 100 – 39.44 by Letts, Griffin, Lyon & McClinton (Old Record: 39.65 by Letts, Griffin, Lyon & McClinton, 3/25/22)
 Among the Nation’s Elite
Liberty ranks among the top 20 nationally in the following events at this stage of the season.
Men’s Steeplechase – No. 2 – Felix Kandie – 8:37.00
Women’s 5K – No. 15 – Adelyn Ackley – 15:54.98
Men’s 5K – No. 15 – Ryan Drew – 13:40.82
ASUN Leaders
Liberty currently ranks No. 1 in the ASUN Conference in the following events:
Men’s 100 – Christian Lyon – 10.39
Men’s 200 – Diamantae Griffin – 20.63
Men’s 5K – Ryan Drew – 13:40.82
Men’s 10K – Caleb Olson – 29:14.24
Men’s 110 Hurdles – Felix Lawrence – 14.21
Men’s 400 Hurdles – Felix Lawrence – 53.58
Men’s Steeplechase – Felix Kandie – 8:37.00
Men’s 4 x 100 Relay – 39.44
Men’s Long Jump – Quinten Clay – 24-7.25
Men’s Discus – Kevin Nedrick – 186-3
Men’s Hammer – John Hicks – 214-6
Women’s 100 – Isis Brooks – 11.48
Women’s 400 – Janai Scott – 54.07
Women’s 5K – Adelyn Ackley – 15:54.98
Women’s Pole Vault – Taylen Langin – 12-11.5
Women’s Shot Put – Naomi Mojica – 51-3.5
Women’s Discus – Megan Mann – 157-4
Women’s Hammer – Grace Artis – 191-11
Women’s Javelin – Mackenzie Hainley – 151-2
Bound for Bloomington
The NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round meet is scheduled for May 25-28 in Bloomington, Ind. The following Flames are likely to qualify for the meet, based upon their marks thus far in the 2022 outdoor season.
Beau Backes – Men’s Discus
Jose Ballivian – Men’s Discus
Quinten Clay – Men’s Long Jump
Ryan Drew – Men’s 1,500, 5K
Diamantae Griffin – Men’s 200, 4 x 100 Relay
John Hicks – Men’s Hammer
Felix Kandie – Men’s Steeplechase
Brandon Letts – Men’s 4 x 100 Relay
Christian Lyon – Men’s 100, 4 x 100 Relay
Donald McClinton – Men’s 200, Men’s 4 x 100 Relay
Kyle Mitchell – Men’s Shot Put
Kevin Nedrick – Men’s Shot Put, Men’s Discus
Caleb Olson – Men’s 10K
Adelyn Ackley – Women’s 5K
Isis Brooks – Women’s 100
Mackenzie Hainley – Women’s Javelin
Up Next
Liberty will compete at Lannigan Field in Charlottesville, Va., for the second time this season. The Virginia Challenge is slated for April 22-23.
