Friday, January 12
Blacksburg, Va.
5:00 PM ET
Liberty University
at
Virginia Tech Invitational
Webster Wins VT Invitational Women’s 60 in Program-Record 7.37
1/12/2024 10:18:00 PM | Track and Field
BLACKSBURG, Va. – Liberty's Reese Webster stole the show at the Virginia Tech Invitational Friday evening, breaking the women's 60 program record twice and winning in 7.37 seconds. She was one of the Flames' three event champions on the day at Rector Field House.
Liberty's other two first-place finishes came in distance events, thanks to Adelyn Fairley (women's 3K – 9:41.99) and Kyle Harkabus (men's mile – 4:12.66).
Women's Day 1 Recap
Webster arrived at Liberty in the fall with impressive credentials to her name. Last season, she captured CAA titles in the 100 and 4 x 100 relay while setting Elon records in the 60 (7.57) and 100 (11.70) as a freshman.
Speaking of freshmen, Liberty rookie Oasis Hernandez had raced to the Big South women's 60 title in 2014, winning the race in 7.45 at Rector Field House.
Fast forward 10 years, and Hernandez's record went down twice in 70 minutes at the same facility. Webster's first record of the night came at 7 p.m., as her 7.43 clocking led all qualifiers into the women's 60 final.
Webster then posted a dominating victory in the 60 final at 8:10 p.m., clocking 7.37 to the 7.49 recorded by runner-up Aniya Matthews of Charlotte.
Webster was Liberty's final competitor of the night, putting an exclamation point on the Flames' day in Blacksburg.
Earlier, Fairley had gotten things started in impressive fashion by winning the first track event (women's 3K). Her 15th and final lap took just 35.16 seconds, enabling Fairley to overtake High Point's Katie Taylor for the win in 9:41.99.
Teammates Marie Hostetler (fourth place, season-best 9:59.15) and Isabela Ross (fifth, 10:00.75) joined Fairley in the top five. It marked Ross's Liberty debut after transferring from Southern Miss.
Later on, Fairley finished a team-best fourth in the women's mile, crossing the line in 5:00.57. She was followed by freshman Ryann Aycock (fifth, 5:08.45) and Ross (sixth, 5:08.50).
Indea Cartwright was the women's 60 hurdles runner-up in 8.36. Fellow Lady Flame Ahvon Mitchell finished in 8.70, good for sixth in the race and ninth in program history.
Rebecca Allen ran a personal-best 7.94 in the women's 60 prelims and matched her lifetime best of 18-6.5 for eighth in the women's long jump.
Men's Day 1 Recap
Harkabus trailed Charlotte's Tim Haughton by 2.5 seconds at the bell in the men's mile before dropping a 29.33-second final circuit to come back and win in 4:12.66.
Nathan Moore added a fifth-place showing in 4:17.62 in his Liberty track debut.
Brendan Pitcher's personal-best 1,000 clocking of 2:25.23 earned third place in the race and strengthened his hold on fifth all-time at Liberty.
After transferring from Coastal Carolina with a 60 hurdles best of 8.30, Albrey Gossett has now improved that clocking three times in four races as a Flame. First off was his 8.26 effort in the Liberty Kickoff prelims on Dec. 1.
On Friday, Gossett notched an 8.24 in the prelims and then sped up to 8.19 in the final to produce an eighth-place finish. That ties him with Markus Ballengee (2018) for 10th all-time at Liberty.
Five of the top 11 men's 60 hurdlers in program history are current Flames, including Prosper Ekporere (No. 2, 7.93), Felix Lawrence (No. 3, 7.95), Cole Peterlin (No. 8, 8.16), Anthony Bryan (No. 9, 8.17) and Gossett (Tie for No. 10, 8.19).
Women's Day 1 Event Winners
Adelyn Fairley – 3K – 9:41.99
Reese Webster – 60 – 7.37
Men's Day 1 Event Winners
Kyle Harkabus – Mile – 4:12.66
Women's Day 1 Record Breakers
Liberty Record – 60 – Reese Webster – 7.37
Previous Record: 7.45 by Oasis Hernandez at the Big South Championship in Blacksburg, Va. on March 1, 2014
Day 1 Updates to Liberty's All-Time Women's Top 10 List
60 – No. 1 – Reese Webster – 7.37
60 Hurdles – No. 9 – Ahvon Mitchell – 8.70
Day 1 Updates to Liberty's All-Time Men's Top 10 List
1,000 – No. 5 – Brendan Pitcher – 2:25.23
60 Hurdles – Tie for No. 10 – Albrey Gossett – 8.19
Up Next
Liberty will close out its two days of competition at the Virginia Tech Invitational on Saturday. The Flames' first event of the day (seeded women's pole vault) is scheduled for 11 a.m. at Rector Field House.
Liberty's other two first-place finishes came in distance events, thanks to Adelyn Fairley (women's 3K – 9:41.99) and Kyle Harkabus (men's mile – 4:12.66).
Women's Day 1 Recap
Webster arrived at Liberty in the fall with impressive credentials to her name. Last season, she captured CAA titles in the 100 and 4 x 100 relay while setting Elon records in the 60 (7.57) and 100 (11.70) as a freshman.
Speaking of freshmen, Liberty rookie Oasis Hernandez had raced to the Big South women's 60 title in 2014, winning the race in 7.45 at Rector Field House.
Fast forward 10 years, and Hernandez's record went down twice in 70 minutes at the same facility. Webster's first record of the night came at 7 p.m., as her 7.43 clocking led all qualifiers into the women's 60 final.
Webster then posted a dominating victory in the 60 final at 8:10 p.m., clocking 7.37 to the 7.49 recorded by runner-up Aniya Matthews of Charlotte.
Webster was Liberty's final competitor of the night, putting an exclamation point on the Flames' day in Blacksburg.
Earlier, Fairley had gotten things started in impressive fashion by winning the first track event (women's 3K). Her 15th and final lap took just 35.16 seconds, enabling Fairley to overtake High Point's Katie Taylor for the win in 9:41.99.
Teammates Marie Hostetler (fourth place, season-best 9:59.15) and Isabela Ross (fifth, 10:00.75) joined Fairley in the top five. It marked Ross's Liberty debut after transferring from Southern Miss.
Later on, Fairley finished a team-best fourth in the women's mile, crossing the line in 5:00.57. She was followed by freshman Ryann Aycock (fifth, 5:08.45) and Ross (sixth, 5:08.50).
Indea Cartwright was the women's 60 hurdles runner-up in 8.36. Fellow Lady Flame Ahvon Mitchell finished in 8.70, good for sixth in the race and ninth in program history.
Rebecca Allen ran a personal-best 7.94 in the women's 60 prelims and matched her lifetime best of 18-6.5 for eighth in the women's long jump.
Men's Day 1 Recap
Harkabus trailed Charlotte's Tim Haughton by 2.5 seconds at the bell in the men's mile before dropping a 29.33-second final circuit to come back and win in 4:12.66.
Nathan Moore added a fifth-place showing in 4:17.62 in his Liberty track debut.
Brendan Pitcher's personal-best 1,000 clocking of 2:25.23 earned third place in the race and strengthened his hold on fifth all-time at Liberty.
After transferring from Coastal Carolina with a 60 hurdles best of 8.30, Albrey Gossett has now improved that clocking three times in four races as a Flame. First off was his 8.26 effort in the Liberty Kickoff prelims on Dec. 1.
On Friday, Gossett notched an 8.24 in the prelims and then sped up to 8.19 in the final to produce an eighth-place finish. That ties him with Markus Ballengee (2018) for 10th all-time at Liberty.
Five of the top 11 men's 60 hurdlers in program history are current Flames, including Prosper Ekporere (No. 2, 7.93), Felix Lawrence (No. 3, 7.95), Cole Peterlin (No. 8, 8.16), Anthony Bryan (No. 9, 8.17) and Gossett (Tie for No. 10, 8.19).
Women's Day 1 Event Winners
Adelyn Fairley – 3K – 9:41.99
Reese Webster – 60 – 7.37
Men's Day 1 Event Winners
Kyle Harkabus – Mile – 4:12.66
Women's Day 1 Record Breakers
Liberty Record – 60 – Reese Webster – 7.37
Previous Record: 7.45 by Oasis Hernandez at the Big South Championship in Blacksburg, Va. on March 1, 2014
Day 1 Updates to Liberty's All-Time Women's Top 10 List
60 – No. 1 – Reese Webster – 7.37
60 Hurdles – No. 9 – Ahvon Mitchell – 8.70
Day 1 Updates to Liberty's All-Time Men's Top 10 List
1,000 – No. 5 – Brendan Pitcher – 2:25.23
60 Hurdles – Tie for No. 10 – Albrey Gossett – 8.19
Up Next
Liberty will close out its two days of competition at the Virginia Tech Invitational on Saturday. The Flames' first event of the day (seeded women's pole vault) is scheduled for 11 a.m. at Rector Field House.
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