Liberty University
Wake Forest Invitational
Doan Clocks 15:51.38 5K to Break ASUN All-Time Record
4/21/2023 11:49:45 PM | Track and Field
In what is becoming a common occurrence, Liberty All-American Calli Doan broke another record during Friday night’s Wake Forest Invitational at Kentner Stadium. This time, her lifetime-best 15:51.38 5K effort took down the ASUN Conference all-time record.
Doan placed fifth in the race, clocking her fastest lap (70.69 seconds) at the end to nearly catch fourth-place Katelyn Tuohy of NC State (15:50.90), the defending national champion. (However, it must be noted that Tuohy had run a 4:08.29 1,500 about an hour earlier.)
Doan’s speedy final circuit enabled her to dip under the previous ASUN standard of 15:52.20, which stood for only one week. Lipscomb’s Lydia Miller posted that time at the Bryan Clay Invitational on April 14.
Doan shattered her 5K lifetime best (16:12.91 at the indoor Liberty Kickoff on Dec. 2, 2021) by 21 seconds on Friday. She also took more than two minutes off her outdoor 5K best. The only time Doan had contested an outdoor track 5K prior to Friday, she placed sixth in the ASUN final in 17:59.37 as a true freshman, May 11, 2019 in Jacksonville, Fla.
Racing about 90 minutes away from her hometown of Apex, N.C., Doan qualified to the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round meet in a third different event this season (also 1,500 and steeplechase). She has broken records at two of the three distances in 2023, running a program-record 9:57.15 steeplechase on March 31 at the Stanford Invitational. Doan has posted record-setting times at four of her last six meets overall, dating back to the indoor season.
Doan is just the third Lady Flame ever to clock a sub-16:00 5K, joining indoor and outdoor program record holder Ednah Kurgat and current teammate Adelyn Ackley-Fairley in that exclusive club.
Liberty’s other top performer on Friday was first-year Flame Tristian Merchant, one of just eight Flames ever to post a sub-14:00 5K on the men’s side. Like Doan, he saved his fastest lap (62.86 seconds) for last to achieve a noteworthy time.
Merchant’s fast finish secured a new personal-best time of 13:57.34 and a 15th-place finish overall. He nipped his previous best of 13:57.78, accomplished on April 29, 2022 at the Payton Jordan Invitational while racing for Northern Arizona.
The native of Anchorage, Alaska sits No. 2 in the ASUN this year and No. 7 all-time for the Flames. He has now posted a trio of sub-14:00 5Ks within the last 22 days.
Women’s Record Breakers
ASUN All-Time Record – 5K – Calli Doan – 15:51.38
Previous Record: 15:52.20 by Lipscomb’s Lydia Miller at the Bryan Clay Invitational, April 14 in Azusa, Calif.
New Women’s NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round Qualifiers
Calli Doan – 5K – 15:51.38
Updates to Liberty’s All-Time Women’s Top 10 List
5K – No. 2 – Calli Doan – 15:51.38
Up Next
Liberty will wrap up its weekend of competition on Saturday with the Virginia Challenge (Charlottesville, Va.) and WildCat Twilight (Lynchburg, Va.)
