Liberty University
ASUN Outdoor Track Championships
Liberty Wins 3 ASUN Titles on Friday
5/12/2023 8:52:04 PM | Track and Field
Liberty captured three event titles on Friday, the second day of the 2023 ASUN Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Visit Jax Track at Hodges Stadium. The Flames’ victors included Calli Doan (women’s steeplechase), Megan Mann (women’s discus) and Daniel Van Duren (decathlon).
The Lady Flames, who also got a Liberty freshman-record 5,378 points from Patasha Bryan for the heptathlon runner-up spot, have tallied 105 points through eight of 21 women’s events. That has them 42.5 points ahead of defending champion Kennesaw State entering the final day.
On the men’s side, Kennesaw State leads the Flames by 51 (129 to 78) with eight events complete. However, Liberty has set itself up for a big Saturday, qualifying five to the men’s 110 hurdles final and three to the men’s 800 final during Friday’s prelims.
Women’s Day 2 Recap
For the second night in a row, the Lady Flames closed out their day with a distance victory, as Doan’s steeplechase triumph (10:12.31) followed on the heels of Adelyn Ackley-Fairley’s 10K win from Thursday evening. Doan won by 16 seconds while becoming just the third athlete in meet history to capture multiple women’s steeplechase titles. Doan, who was previously victorious in 2021, is the first Lady Flame ever to win more than one conference steeplechase crown in her career.
Behind Doan, Anna Hostetler made a charge up to fifth place (11:05.28) on the final lap, while Kristiana Young cut 16 seconds off her previous best for eighth (11:12.16) in the race and No. 10 in program history.
Mann’s discus victory (162-4) headlined a 21-point haul in the Lady Flames’ highest-scoring event of the meet to date. Also adding to Liberty’s point total were Sofia Mojica (fourth, 155-3), reigning ASUN Women’s Field Athlete of the Week Annika Hantho (fifth, 150-6) and Kali Grayson (seventh, personal-best 135-3).
Mann gave the Lady Flames their seventh women’s discus conference title in 11 years, including their second in the last three seasons.
Bryan (5,378) and Meredith Engle (5,111) both earned podium finishes by placing second and third, respectively, in the heptathlon. Bryan’s score broke the Liberty freshman standard of 5,274 set by Liberty Athletics Hall of Famer Danielle McNaney at the 2002 ECAC Championship. Bryan, who added nearly 300 points to her previous best of 5,092 this week, now ranks second to McNaney in program history.
Both Bryan and Engle were aided by their performances in the heptathlon javelin. Engle (131-6) and Bryan (128-11) both eclipsed Engle’s meet record of 128-3 set in 2021.
Makenzy Mizera collected her ninth career All-ASUN medal, long jumping a season-best 19-5.5 for second place. Freshman Rebecca Allen added a seventh-place finish, landing at a personal-best 18-6.5.
The Lady Flames qualified runners to Saturday’s finals in all four running events contested Friday, headlined by Isis Brooks (No. 1 100 qualifier with a time of 11.41) and the 400 duo of Jezelle Shaw (season-best 55.82) and Dawn Hilton (personal-best 56.28).
Men’s Day 2 Recap
Van Duren added more than 200 points to his decathlon personal best, scoring 6,617 to become Liberty’s third different ASUN decathlon champion in four appearances at this meet. Van Duren started his Friday with personal bests in the 110 hurdles (14.79 into a headwind) and discus (112-5) before matching his pole vault best of 13-1.5, enabling him to overtake 2021 decathlon champion Ian Jackson from Kennesaw State.
Making his decathlon debut, freshman Hunter Bleam scored 6,127 points for third place. He won the decathlon discus with a mark of 115-7.
Part of a deep men’s shot put competition, Kevin Nedrick earned a third-place finish with an outdoor personal-best mark of 61-11. That ranks No. 2 in program history behind current volunteer assistant coach Kyle Mitchell. Desmond Coleman added a team point with a 52-8.25 mark for eighth place.
Freshman Joshua Smith stepped up with a big season-best 23-2.75 long jump to grab third place. Classmate Shane Wang reached 21-11 for fifth, while Van Duren came in sixth at 21-4.75 during his busy day.
Van Duren then competed in his seventh and final event of the day as part of Liberty’s most successful running event prelim. All five Flames advanced to Saturday’s men’s 110 hurdles final, including Prosper Ekporere (No. 1 qualifier at 13.93), defending champion Felix Lawrence (14.44), Isaiah Idore (personal-best 14.64), Rayshawn Johnson (14.98) and Van Duren (15.07).
Liberty was also able to qualify multiple athletes in the men’s 800 (indoor champion Brendan Pitcher 1:51.61, Ally Kipchirchir – 1:51.63 and Isaiah Schulties – 1:51.97) and 100 (No. 1 qualifier Omari Lewis – 10.39 and Donald McClinton – 10.49).
In total, the Liberty men’s squad qualified 18 athletes to running event finals on Thursday and Friday, as compared with Kennesaw State’s eight qualifiers.
Women’s Team Scores (Through 8 of 21 Events)
1) Liberty – 105
2) Kennesaw State – 62.5
3) Lipscomb – 44
4) Jacksonville – 30
5) Queens – 29.5
6) Jacksonville State – 13
7) EKU – 11
8) Central Arkansas – 6.5
9) Austin Peay – 5
10) North Florida – 4.5
11) Bellarmine – 1
Men’s Team Scores (Through 8 of 21 Events)
1) Kennesaw State – 129
2) Liberty – 78
3) EKU – 50
4) North Florida – 26
5) Central Arkansas – 10
6) Lipscomb – 9
7) Queens – 6
8) Bellarmine – 3
Women’s Day 2 ASUN Champions
Calli Doan – Steeplechase – 10:12.31
Megan Mann – Discus – 162-4
Men’s Day 2 ASUN Champions
Daniel Van Duren – Decathlon – 6,617
Other Women’s Day 2 Top 3 Finishers
2nd – Patasha Bryan – Heptathlon – 5,378
2nd – Makenzy Mizera – Long Jump – 19-5.5
3rd – Meredith Engle – Heptathlon – 5,111
Other Men’s Day 2 Top 3 Finishers
3rd – Hunter Bleam – Decathlon – 6,127
3rd – Kevin Nedrick – Shot Put – 61-11
3rd – Joshua Smith – Long Jump – 23-2.75
Women’s Day 2 Record Breakers
Liberty Freshman Record – Heptathlon – Patasha Bryan – 5,378
Previous Record: 5,274 by Danielle McNaney at the ECAC Championship, May 17-18, 2002 in Princeton, N.J.
Day 2 Updates to Liberty’s All-Time Women’s Top 10 List
Heptathlon – No. 2 – Patasha Bryan – 5,378
Heptathlon Javelin – No. 4 – Meredith Engle – 131-6
Heptathlon Javelin – No. 5 – Patasha Bryan – 128-11
Steeplechase – No. 10 – Kristiana Young – 11:12.16
Day 2 Updates to Liberty’s All-Time Men’s Top 10 List
Shot Put – No. 2 – Kevin Nedrick – 61-11
Up Next
The 2023 ASUN Outdoor Track & Field Championships will conclude with a busy Saturday. The men’s discus and women’s pole vault will get things started at 3 p.m. Running events and the ESPN+ broadcast will commence at 4:45 p.m. with the women’s 4 x 100 relay.
Featured in Main Photo: Daniel Van Duren
