Liberty University
VertKlasse Meeting
Burroughs, Lewis Run Fast on Windy Saturday at VertKlasse Meeting
4/1/2023 7:05:20 PM | Track and Field
Liberty only took four athletes to Vert Stadium for Saturday’s VertKlasse Meeting. However, the Flames’ small group had a large impact on a windy afternoon, accounting for a Liberty freshman record (Elonzo Burroughs’ 21.10 200), a trio of top-three finishes and three top-10 performances in program history.
Coming back from an injury which had sidelined him since Feb. 11, Burroughs made an impressive collegiate outdoor track debut. The true freshman from Washington, D.C., clocked a wind-aided 21.10 to win his heat and place fifth overall in the men’s 200.
That time took down a Liberty freshman standard which had stood for 18 years since Alonzo Phillips ran a wind-aided 21.20 at the Liberty Collegiate Invitational on April 2, 2005. It is Burroughs’ second Liberty freshman record, as he also posted an indoor 300 record time of 34.10 at the Virginia Tech Invitational on Jan. 13.
Now tied with Willie Parker for 10th place on Liberty’s all-time 200 chart, Burroughs was not the Flames’ fastest 200 runner of the day, though. That honor went to fellow first-year Flame Omari Lewis, who used a huge 7.4 m/s tailwind to break 21 seconds for the first time (20.93) and take third place overall in the event.
Lewis, who became the seventh Flame ever to post a sub-21.00 200, had earlier placed third in the 100 in a wind-legal 10.30. Liberty’s No. 5 performer all-time in the event, the Trinidad and Tobago native just missed the ASUN all-time 100 record of 10.29, co-held by teammate Donald McClinton.
Freshman Christopher Burge, McClinton, Lewis and Burroughs teamed up for their first 4 x 100 relay as a quartet on Saturday. They won their heat and claimed the runner-up spot overall with a 40.96 clocking.
It was Liberty’s first men’s 4 x 100 relay since McClinton helped the Flames earn second team All-America distinction with a 12th-place finish at the 2022 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Other Men’s Day 2 Top 3 Finishers
2nd – Christopher Burge, Donald McClinton, Omari Lewis, Elonzo Burroughs – 4 x 100 – 40.96
3rd – Omari Lewis – 100 – 10.30
3rd – Omari Lewis – 200 – 20.93
Men’s Day 2 Record Breakers
Liberty Freshman Record – 200 – Elonzo Burroughs – 21.10
Previous Record: 21.20 by Alonzo Phillips at the Liberty Collegiate Invitational on April 2, 2005
Day 2 Updates to Liberty’s All-Time Men’s Top 10 List
100 – No. 5 – Omari Lewis – 10.30
200 – No. 7 – Omari Lewis – 20.93
200 – Tie for No. 10 – Elonzo Burroughs – 21.10
Up Next
Liberty will have athletes in action at two different meets next weekend, including the Duke Invitational (April 6-8 in Durham, N.C.) and Randolph College’s WildCat Track Festival (April 8 in Lynchburg).
Featured in Main Photo: Elonzo Burroughs
