Liberty Track to Open Outdoor Season at High Point
3/15/2023 10:01:56 AM | Track and Field
Live Video (ESPN+, Saturday at Noon)
Liberty will open its 2023 outdoor track & field season by competing in the Bob Davidson Memorial Invitational, Friday and Saturday at Vert Stadium in High Point, N.C.
Action will begin at 10 a.m. both mornings for the Flames’ first of two meets at High Point over a three-week span. Liberty will return for the VertKlasse Meeting, March 31 & April 1.
How to Follow the Flames and Lady Flames
Saturday’s events will be televised on ESPN+, beginning at noon.
Live results will be available throughout both days of competition, courtesy of Flash Results.
Weather Report
Friday’s forecast in High Point calls for a high in the mid-60s with afternoon rain showers. Saturday is expected to feature a mixture of clouds and sunshine with a high in the mid-50s.
A Few Things to Keep an Eye On
Sprints
Isis Brooks will compete in the 100 for the first time since racing in the NCAA quarterfinals on May 28, 2022. She broke the program record for the event three times last season, including once at High Point, lowering it to 11.35 by the end of the year. Competing unattached during the indoor campaign, Brooks clocked impressive times of 7.47 (60) and 23.77 (200) at the Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational.
On the men’s side, Donald McClinton (100) and Omari Lewis (100 and 200) will make their outdoor season debuts coming off of spectacular indoor campaigns. McClinton set the Liberty indoor 200 record (20.86) and then captured the ASUN title in the one-lap event. He owns a share of the ASUN all-time 100 standard with his 10.29 effort from last year’s UNF Invitational.
First-year Flame Lewis raced to the ASUN 60 dash title in program-record fashion (6.70) and took second to McClinton in the 200 in a personal-best 21.19.
Hurdles
During their first indoor season at Liberty, Indea Cartwright (8.23) and Jasmine Williams (8.29) became the two fastest 60 hurdlers in program history. Moving outdoors, the duo could threaten the program 100 hurdles record of 13.65 which Olivia Charnuski has owned since 2010. Cartwright owns a personal best of 13.41, while Williams has run 13.77.
Felix Lawrence swept the ASUN 110 and 400 hurdles titles a year ago and is entered in both events on Saturday. He finished a close second to teammate Prosper Ekporere during this year’s ASUN 60 hurdles final in the Flames’ deepest event.
Distance
Three members of Liberty’s talented group of freshman distance runners will compete on the track in a Flames uniform for the first time on Saturday, including Katie Sigerud (women’s 800), Katrina Schlenker (women’s 1,500) and Jacob Hess (men’s 1,500).
Sigerud clocked a 2:10.64 800 during high school, while both Schlenker and Hess earned ASUN All-Freshman Team honors in cross country this past fall.
Sigerud is one of 14 Lady Flames entered in the 800, and Schlenker is part of a group of 13 Lady Flames scheduled to contest the 1,500.
Throws
Paola Bueno capped off a sterling freshman season indoors by capturing the ASUN women’s weight throw title. Now she will turn her attention to her primary event, the hammer throw. Bueno was the women’s hammer silver medalist at the 2022 World U20 Championships, competing for Mexico, and owns the Mexican U20 record at 207-2. By way of comparison, the Liberty all-time record is 206-6 (Dasiana Larson in 2018) and the ASUN all-time record is 204-10 (Chelsea Igberaese in 2021).
Another 2022 World U20 Championships competitor, Desmond Coleman will throw the discus in a Liberty uniform for the first time on Saturday. He placed seventh at the World U20 Championships after claiming the USATF U20 title. Coleman reached 177-5 while competing unattached last season.
Coleman will compete alongside teammate Kevin Nedrick. He placed 11th in the discus at the 2022 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships, becoming a second team All-American during his first season with the Flames.
Pole Vault
Taylen Langin enters her final season as the two-time defending ASUN women’s pole vault champion. She will compete in one of the meet’s highlighted events Saturday afternoon. Langin’s best clearance of the indoor season (13-0.25) came at the ASUN meet, where she finished second.
Up Next
Liberty will divide up between a pair of meets next weekend. A group of mid-distance and distance runners will race in the Raleigh Relays, March 23-25 in Raleigh, N.C. Other Flames will remain in the Hill City for the Dr. Jack M. Toms Alumni Invitational, March 24-25 at the University of Lynchburg.
Featured in Main Photo: Isis Brooks
