Friday, November 15
Rock Hill, S.C.
10:30 AM ET
Liberty University
at
NCAA Division I Southeast Regional Championships
Nicholas Kiprotich will attempt to qualify for the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships for the second year in a row.
Liberty XC to Compete in NCAA SE Regional Championships on Friday
11/13/2024 11:37:00 AM | Cross Country
LYNCHBURG, Va. – After sweeping the CUSA team titles, the Liberty men's and women's cross country teams will now set their sights on Friday's NCAA Division I Southeast Regional Championships. For the first time since 2018, the event will take place at Winthrop Farm in Rock Hill, S.C.
The meet, which will determine the team and individual qualifiers to the 2024 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, will begin with the women's 6K at 10:30 a.m. The men's 10K will follow at 11:30 a.m.
Checking Out the Course
The last time the NCAA Division I Southeast Regional Championships took place at Winthrop Farm (2018), Azaria Kirwa (seventh place) led the Flames to an impressive sixth-place team showing and earned individual qualification to the 2018 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships.
Winthrop Farm also served as the venue for Liberty's most recent men's and women's cross country conference championship sweep prior to this season (2012 Big South Championship).
How to Punch Your Ticket to Madison
The common goal for all men's and women's teams competing in Rock Hill on Friday is to qualify for the 2024 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, to be contested Nov. 23 at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course in Madison, Wis. Here's what it takes:
Team Qualification: The top two teams at each of Friday's nine regional meets will automatically advance to the national meet. Liberty's region consists of teams from Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. The national field will then be filled with 13 at-large selections, comprising a total of 31 men's and 31 women's teams which will compete in Madison. The at-large squads will be determined using a formula based upon head-to-head success against other national qualifiers during the regular season.
Individual Qualification: All runners who place in the top 25 at the regional meet earn all-region recognition and become eligible for advancement to Madison. The national meet features 38 individual competitors not on advancing teams. The top four finishers from each regional meet who are not part of a national-qualifying squad will punch their ticket to Madison. Then, two at-large individuals will be added to round out the national field.
In summary, the only people who will know for sure that they are bound for Madison on Friday are the top two teams in each race and the first four individual finishers who are not part of one of those teams. The complete field of team and individual qualifiers to Madison will be revealed Saturday at 5 p.m. on NCAA.com.
Women's Team Preview
After claiming its first CUSA title by a meet-record 66 points, the Lady Flames will attempt to qualify for the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships for just the second time in program history (also spring 2021).
The only two holdovers from that spring 2021 squad are Adelyn Fairley and Marie Hostetler, who were both among Liberty's seven top-14 finishers at the CUSA Championship.
Fairley finished a team-best second on Nov. 2 in Oxford, Ala., followed by Allie Zealand (third), Isabela Ross (sixth), Hostetler (eighth), Ava Gordon (ninth), Molly Lashley (13th) and Katrina Schlenker (14th).
Liberty enters Friday's race ranked No. 5 in the Southeast Region, trailing only a quartet of nationally ranked teams (No. 13 North Carolina, No. 15 Virginia, No. 17 NC State and No. 22 Furman). The Lady Flames will likely need to defeat at least one of those four squads in order to both improve on their best-ever regional finish (fifth place in fall 2021) and advance to Madison.
Liberty has defeated four nationally ranked foes this season, including No. 25 Michigan State at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational and the trio of No. 15 Tennessee, No. 22 Ole Miss and No. 29 Arkansas at the Wisconsin Pre-Nationals.
Women's Individual Preview
If Liberty is unable to qualify to Madison as a team, its top women's individual hopes lie with CUSA runner-up Adelyn Fairley and third-place finisher Allie Zealand.
Fairley has earned all-region honors during each of her last two appearances at this meet, placing 14th in fall 2021 and 22nd in 2023. She will try to join recently inducted Liberty Athletics Hall of Famer Jennifer Klugh (2010, 2011 and 2012) as the only Lady Flame ever to make three all-region teams.
Fairley will also attempt to become only the third Lady Flame ever to race at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships twice (also spring 2021), joining two members of Liberty's current coaching staff (Heather [Sagan] Zealand in 2000 and 2001 and Calli Doan in spring 2021 and fall 2021) in that exclusive group.
Meanwhile, Zealand will look to add to an already impressive freshman season by becoming the third Lady Flame ever to become an all-region performer (also Samantha Pelletier in 2001 and Ednah Kurgat in 2015). Kurgat is Liberty's only freshman women's runner ever to reach the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships.
Liberty has seen multiple Lady Flames collect all-region medals twice in program history, including 2001 (Sagan and Pelletier) and fall 2021 (Doan and Fairley). That performance made Doan the Lady Flames' most recent NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships national qualifier.
Men's Team Preview
After claiming its first conference title since 2013, the Liberty men's cross country team will aim to build upon it with an impressive regional showing.
Liberty heads to Rock Hill with a No. 8 ranking within the Southeast Region. The last time the Flames finished eighth or better at this meet was 2018 (sixth place), when it was also contested at Winthrop Farm. The Flames' best-ever regional meet showing is fifth place in both 2007 and 2008.
The Southeast Region field includes five nationally ranked teams (No. 5 Wake Forest, No. 11 North Carolina, No. 13 Virginia, No. 22 Furman and No. 24 Eastern Kentucky).
In order to produce a lofty team finish on Friday, the Flames will need to replicate the pack running which earned their CUSA title two weeks ago. Six Liberty runners earned All-CUSA medals, including Tristian Merchant (third place), Nicholas Kiprotich (seventh), Nathan Moore (eighth), Jack Cottrell (11th), Kyle Harkabus (17th) and Andrew Schultz (20th).
Men's Individual Preview
Nicholas Kiprotich has been an all-region performer each of the past two seasons, placing 16th at this meet in 2022 and 17th in 2023. Last season, he successfully advanced to the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, where he crossed the finish line 113th.
Kiprotich will attempt to become the first Flame to reach the NCAA national meet in back-to-back seasons since fellow Eldoret, Kenya native Azaria Kirwa in 2017 and 2018.
The only Flames ever to collect three or more all-region medals are Josh McDougal (2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007) and Sam Chelanga (2008, 2009 and 2010).
Coming off a team-best third-place CUSA finish, Tristian Merchant will compete in a cross country 10K for the first time in his career. He has seen some 10K success on the track, racing to the 2023 ASUN title in a personal-best 29:26.15.
The last time multiple Liberty men's runners became all-region performers at the same NCAA Division I Southeast Regional Championships was 2010, when Chelanga, Evans Kigen and Josh Edmonds produced an impressive 1-2-15 individual finish.
The meet, which will determine the team and individual qualifiers to the 2024 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, will begin with the women's 6K at 10:30 a.m. The men's 10K will follow at 11:30 a.m.
Checking Out the Course
The last time the NCAA Division I Southeast Regional Championships took place at Winthrop Farm (2018), Azaria Kirwa (seventh place) led the Flames to an impressive sixth-place team showing and earned individual qualification to the 2018 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships.
Winthrop Farm also served as the venue for Liberty's most recent men's and women's cross country conference championship sweep prior to this season (2012 Big South Championship).
How to Punch Your Ticket to Madison
The common goal for all men's and women's teams competing in Rock Hill on Friday is to qualify for the 2024 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, to be contested Nov. 23 at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course in Madison, Wis. Here's what it takes:
Team Qualification: The top two teams at each of Friday's nine regional meets will automatically advance to the national meet. Liberty's region consists of teams from Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. The national field will then be filled with 13 at-large selections, comprising a total of 31 men's and 31 women's teams which will compete in Madison. The at-large squads will be determined using a formula based upon head-to-head success against other national qualifiers during the regular season.
Individual Qualification: All runners who place in the top 25 at the regional meet earn all-region recognition and become eligible for advancement to Madison. The national meet features 38 individual competitors not on advancing teams. The top four finishers from each regional meet who are not part of a national-qualifying squad will punch their ticket to Madison. Then, two at-large individuals will be added to round out the national field.
In summary, the only people who will know for sure that they are bound for Madison on Friday are the top two teams in each race and the first four individual finishers who are not part of one of those teams. The complete field of team and individual qualifiers to Madison will be revealed Saturday at 5 p.m. on NCAA.com.
Women's Team Preview
After claiming its first CUSA title by a meet-record 66 points, the Lady Flames will attempt to qualify for the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships for just the second time in program history (also spring 2021).
The only two holdovers from that spring 2021 squad are Adelyn Fairley and Marie Hostetler, who were both among Liberty's seven top-14 finishers at the CUSA Championship.
Fairley finished a team-best second on Nov. 2 in Oxford, Ala., followed by Allie Zealand (third), Isabela Ross (sixth), Hostetler (eighth), Ava Gordon (ninth), Molly Lashley (13th) and Katrina Schlenker (14th).
Liberty enters Friday's race ranked No. 5 in the Southeast Region, trailing only a quartet of nationally ranked teams (No. 13 North Carolina, No. 15 Virginia, No. 17 NC State and No. 22 Furman). The Lady Flames will likely need to defeat at least one of those four squads in order to both improve on their best-ever regional finish (fifth place in fall 2021) and advance to Madison.
Liberty has defeated four nationally ranked foes this season, including No. 25 Michigan State at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational and the trio of No. 15 Tennessee, No. 22 Ole Miss and No. 29 Arkansas at the Wisconsin Pre-Nationals.
Women's Individual Preview
If Liberty is unable to qualify to Madison as a team, its top women's individual hopes lie with CUSA runner-up Adelyn Fairley and third-place finisher Allie Zealand.
Fairley has earned all-region honors during each of her last two appearances at this meet, placing 14th in fall 2021 and 22nd in 2023. She will try to join recently inducted Liberty Athletics Hall of Famer Jennifer Klugh (2010, 2011 and 2012) as the only Lady Flame ever to make three all-region teams.
Fairley will also attempt to become only the third Lady Flame ever to race at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships twice (also spring 2021), joining two members of Liberty's current coaching staff (Heather [Sagan] Zealand in 2000 and 2001 and Calli Doan in spring 2021 and fall 2021) in that exclusive group.
Meanwhile, Zealand will look to add to an already impressive freshman season by becoming the third Lady Flame ever to become an all-region performer (also Samantha Pelletier in 2001 and Ednah Kurgat in 2015). Kurgat is Liberty's only freshman women's runner ever to reach the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships.
Liberty has seen multiple Lady Flames collect all-region medals twice in program history, including 2001 (Sagan and Pelletier) and fall 2021 (Doan and Fairley). That performance made Doan the Lady Flames' most recent NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships national qualifier.
Men's Team Preview
After claiming its first conference title since 2013, the Liberty men's cross country team will aim to build upon it with an impressive regional showing.
Liberty heads to Rock Hill with a No. 8 ranking within the Southeast Region. The last time the Flames finished eighth or better at this meet was 2018 (sixth place), when it was also contested at Winthrop Farm. The Flames' best-ever regional meet showing is fifth place in both 2007 and 2008.
The Southeast Region field includes five nationally ranked teams (No. 5 Wake Forest, No. 11 North Carolina, No. 13 Virginia, No. 22 Furman and No. 24 Eastern Kentucky).
In order to produce a lofty team finish on Friday, the Flames will need to replicate the pack running which earned their CUSA title two weeks ago. Six Liberty runners earned All-CUSA medals, including Tristian Merchant (third place), Nicholas Kiprotich (seventh), Nathan Moore (eighth), Jack Cottrell (11th), Kyle Harkabus (17th) and Andrew Schultz (20th).
Men's Individual Preview
Nicholas Kiprotich has been an all-region performer each of the past two seasons, placing 16th at this meet in 2022 and 17th in 2023. Last season, he successfully advanced to the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, where he crossed the finish line 113th.
Kiprotich will attempt to become the first Flame to reach the NCAA national meet in back-to-back seasons since fellow Eldoret, Kenya native Azaria Kirwa in 2017 and 2018.
The only Flames ever to collect three or more all-region medals are Josh McDougal (2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007) and Sam Chelanga (2008, 2009 and 2010).
Coming off a team-best third-place CUSA finish, Tristian Merchant will compete in a cross country 10K for the first time in his career. He has seen some 10K success on the track, racing to the 2023 ASUN title in a personal-best 29:26.15.
The last time multiple Liberty men's runners became all-region performers at the same NCAA Division I Southeast Regional Championships was 2010, when Chelanga, Evans Kigen and Josh Edmonds produced an impressive 1-2-15 individual finish.
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