Friday, October 4
South Bend, Ind.
10:30 AM ET
Liberty University
at
Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational
(L-R): Allie Zealand, Marie Hostetler, Katrina Schlenker, Molly Lashley, Isabela Ross, Adelyn Fairley
Liberty XC Set for Meets at Notre Dame and Lehigh
10/2/2024 11:00:00 AM | Cross Country
LYNCHBURG, Va. – For the first time this season, Liberty will split its cross country runners between a pair of meets. The men's squad and the top women's runners will compete in Friday's Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Ind. Meanwhile, the rest of the Lady Flames will head to Bethlehem, Pa. for Saturday's 50th Paul Short Run.
Liberty's runners at Notre Dame will compete against numerous nationally-ranked foes in the "blue" seeded races. The women's 5K will start at 10:30 a.m. followed by the men's 8K at 11:15.
The Paul Short Run will feature women's 6K races with Lady Flames entered in both the open section at 10:15 a.m. and the "brown" section at 2:30 p.m.
Coming off a team title at the adidas XC Challenge on Sept. 20, the Liberty men's squad is ranked a season-best No. 7 in the Southeast Region. On Friday, the Flames will take on four nationally-ranked teams, including No. 4 Northern Arizona, No. 9 Notre Dame, No. 29 Cal Baptist and No. 30 Michigan State.
CUSA Runner of the Week Nicholas Kiprotich, CUSA Freshman of the Week Edwin Kiprop and Tristian Merchant placed 6-7-8 to pace the Flames at the adidas XC Challenge. Kiprotich finished a team-best 11th the last time Liberty competed at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational (Sept. 30, 2022), clocking an impressive 23:33.9 for five miles.
In its last race, the Liberty women's team placed third at the adidas XC Challenge (Sept. 20) in a field which included No. 1 NC State. This time around, the Lady Flames will square off against three of the nation's top five teams, including No. 1 Northern Arizona, No. 3 Notre Dame and No. 5 BYU. Liberty entered the Southeast Region rankings for the first time this season on Monday at No. 10.
Allie Zealand came in seventh at the adidas XC Challenge, earning CUSA Runner and Freshman of the Week honors. A 16:59.4 clocking made her just the fifth Lady Flame ever to break 17:00 for a cross country 5K.
The last time the Lady Flames were part of the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational (Sept. 20, 2022), the Burke Golf Course yielded lightning fast 5K times. Calli Doan clocked a program-record 16:15.1, while Ava Gordon followed in a Liberty freshman-record 16:34.7 as the Lady Flames placed sixth in the team standings.
This is the third straight season a group of Lady Flames will race at the Paul Short Run. The last two years, Liberty's top finisher in Bethlehem used the race as a springboard to a successful conference showing. In 2022, Catherine Farrell placed second in the open women's race. A month later, she came in 17th at the ASUN Championship. A year ago, Jessie Zealand's 13th-place open race showing at the Paul Short Run led to a 24th-place CUSA Championship finish.
Liberty will again compete in two different races on Oct. 19. The men's team and top women's runners will take part in the Wisconsin Pre-Nationals (Madison, Wis.), while the remainder of the Lady Flames will race at the Roanoke XC Invitational (Salem, Va.)
Liberty's runners at Notre Dame will compete against numerous nationally-ranked foes in the "blue" seeded races. The women's 5K will start at 10:30 a.m. followed by the men's 8K at 11:15.
The Paul Short Run will feature women's 6K races with Lady Flames entered in both the open section at 10:15 a.m. and the "brown" section at 2:30 p.m.
Coming off a team title at the adidas XC Challenge on Sept. 20, the Liberty men's squad is ranked a season-best No. 7 in the Southeast Region. On Friday, the Flames will take on four nationally-ranked teams, including No. 4 Northern Arizona, No. 9 Notre Dame, No. 29 Cal Baptist and No. 30 Michigan State.
CUSA Runner of the Week Nicholas Kiprotich, CUSA Freshman of the Week Edwin Kiprop and Tristian Merchant placed 6-7-8 to pace the Flames at the adidas XC Challenge. Kiprotich finished a team-best 11th the last time Liberty competed at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational (Sept. 30, 2022), clocking an impressive 23:33.9 for five miles.
In its last race, the Liberty women's team placed third at the adidas XC Challenge (Sept. 20) in a field which included No. 1 NC State. This time around, the Lady Flames will square off against three of the nation's top five teams, including No. 1 Northern Arizona, No. 3 Notre Dame and No. 5 BYU. Liberty entered the Southeast Region rankings for the first time this season on Monday at No. 10.
Allie Zealand came in seventh at the adidas XC Challenge, earning CUSA Runner and Freshman of the Week honors. A 16:59.4 clocking made her just the fifth Lady Flame ever to break 17:00 for a cross country 5K.
The last time the Lady Flames were part of the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational (Sept. 20, 2022), the Burke Golf Course yielded lightning fast 5K times. Calli Doan clocked a program-record 16:15.1, while Ava Gordon followed in a Liberty freshman-record 16:34.7 as the Lady Flames placed sixth in the team standings.
This is the third straight season a group of Lady Flames will race at the Paul Short Run. The last two years, Liberty's top finisher in Bethlehem used the race as a springboard to a successful conference showing. In 2022, Catherine Farrell placed second in the open women's race. A month later, she came in 17th at the ASUN Championship. A year ago, Jessie Zealand's 13th-place open race showing at the Paul Short Run led to a 24th-place CUSA Championship finish.
Liberty will again compete in two different races on Oct. 19. The men's team and top women's runners will take part in the Wisconsin Pre-Nationals (Madison, Wis.), while the remainder of the Lady Flames will race at the Roanoke XC Invitational (Salem, Va.)
Players Mentioned
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
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