Saturday, February 24
Lynchburg, Va.
10:30 AM ET
Liberty University
vs
Conference USA Indoor Track Championships
Liberty Sweeps Team Titles in 1st CUSA Indoor Championships Appearance
2/24/2024 9:34:00 PM | Track and Field
LYNCHBURG, Va. – Liberty joined a new conference this season, but the results looked familiar Saturday afternoon at the Brant Tolsma Indoor Track at the Liberty Indoor Track Complex. The Flames swept the men's and women's team titles at the 2024 CUSA Indoor Track & Field Championships in convincing fashion.
Liberty won 17 of 34 events contested during the two-day meet and topped the men's and women's team leaderboards by a combined 148 points.
The Lady Flames posted a 70-point triumph (169-99) over runner-up UTEP, marking the largest margin of victory in the meet's 29-year history. Winners of three consecutive indoor conference titles overall, Liberty becomes the first women's team ever to take home the indoor track & field title in its first year of CUSA membership.
On the men's side, Liberty finished 78 points (215.5-137.5) clear of second-place Sam Houston for the largest margin of victory at this meet in 20 years. The Flames remain undefeated in men's indoor track & field conference championships at the Division I level, with the nation's longest active streak reaching 27 years on Saturday (21 Big South, 5 ASUN, 1 CUSA).
Liberty continues its amazing home track advantage, as the Flames and Lady Flames have now won 29 of a possible 30 conference men's and women's indoor and outdoor team titles in Lynchburg all-time.
Lance Bingham claimed both the CUSA Men's and Women's Coach of the Year honors, boosting his conference coach of the year tally to 12.
In just the second meet of his collegiate career, Edwin Kiprop swept the men's 3K and 5K titles to earn the CUSA Men's Freshman of the Meet trophy.
In addition to winning half of the meet's events, Liberty set seven program records, two CUSA meet records and a pair of facility records on Friday and Saturday combined.
The Flames' additions to those totals on Saturday included Katelyn Locker's meet record in the women's 800 (2:06.99) and program standards by Indea Cartwright (women's 60 hurdles – 8.16), Reese Webster (women's 200 – 23.27) and Omari Lewis (men's 60 – 6.67).
Women's Day 2 Recap
Webster started a string of four straight Liberty first-place finishes midway through Saturday's track program, taking top honors in the women's 60 in 7.32.
35 minutes later, Webster bettered the women's 200 program, meet and facility records she had set with her 23.28 clocking during Friday's prelims, crossing the finish line in 23.27. However, UTEP's Niesha Burgher beat her to the finish line with a 22.97 clocking, relegating Webster to a second-place finish and her ninth program-record performance of the season. Teammate Cartwright came in fifth in the race and fourth in program history in 24.19 after doing some record setting of her own.
Cartwright was the women's 60 hurdles runner-up in 8.16, shattering her own Liberty record of 8.23 from her first meet as a Lady Flame, the Liberty Kickoff on Dec. 2, 2022. Ahvon Mitchell's personal-best 8.48 clocking was good for fifth.
After leading off for the Lady Flames' record-breaking distance medley relay quartet Friday evening, Locker took down an 18-year-old meet record Saturday with her winning time of 2:06.99 in the women's 800. She joins Jaime Watson, Tanner Ealum and Meghan Burggraf as the only Lady Flames ever to dip under 2:07 indoors.
Makenzy Mizera required only three attempts to win the women's triple jump Saturday afternoon, thanks to a 39-10.75 hop, skip and jump in round three. During her first meet back from injury, Mizera claimed the long jump and triple jump titles with only four total jumps. She is the first CUSA athlete to sweep these two events at the same meet since 2018 (Rice's Michelle Fokam).
Megan Mann (second place, 48-4.5) and Sofia Mojica (third, 47-7.75) both stood on the women's shot put podium. Mojica made a big move up the leaderboard on her sixth attempt, thanks to a nearly three-foot personal best.
Adelyn Fairley completed her ASUN medal collection by nipping UTEP's Joyce Kemboi for third place in the women's 3K (9:37.74). She had previously won silver at the CUSA Cross Country Championships and gold in Friday's 5K final. Fairley is now a 13-time all-conference performer between cross country and track for her career.
Men's Day 2 Recap
Anthony Bryan (5,187 points) and Daniel Van Duren (personal-best 5,121) started Liberty's day off with a 1-2 heptathlon finish. Bryan is now a three-time conference heptathlon champion, previously claiming ASUN crowns in 2021 and 2023. He followed in the footsteps of younger sister Patasha Bryan, who struck gold in the pentathlon on Friday.
Anthony Bryan was one of four Liberty men's athletes on Saturday to win the same event they had at the 2023 ASUN Indoor Track & Field Championships, joining Lewis (men's 60 – 6.67), Brendan Pitcher (men's 800 – 1:51.77) and Joshua Smith (men's triple jump – 50-0.5).
For the second year in a row, Lewis set a program record while racing to the conference men's 60 championship. Last year's ASUN-winning time was 6.70, the first of three times he achieved that exact clocking. The sophomore finally took down the record with Saturday's victorious 6.67 effort.
Lewis also climbed onto the men's 200 awards podium with a third-place finish (21.11). Fellow Trinidad and Tobago native Revell Webster added a sixth-place showing in both short sprints, clocking a 60 time of 6.86 and a personal-best 21.41 in the 200.
Pitcher pulled out a men's 800 triumph in the final strides, with his 1:51.77 clocking edging out Middle Tennessee's Wail Bourahli (1:52.06). In the last meet of his collegiate career, teammate Isaiah Schulties added a fourth-place finish in 1:53.23.
A year ago as a freshman, Smith achieved an unlikely ASUN men's triple jump victory with a big personal-best leap of 49-7.75 in round six. This time around, he became Liberty's sixth member of the indoor 50-foot club in round six, with Smith's final attempt measuring 50-0.5.
Fellow sophomore Shane Wang made it a 1-2 Liberty sweep with a top mark of 47-11.25, matching his season best.
All-American Warren Barrett was dominant in claiming his first career conference title in the men's shot put. His best effort (61-2) defeated runner-up Dominykas Cepys of Sam Houston by 6.5 feet.
Kyle Harkabus (4:06.79 mile) and Kiprop (8:15.26 3K) punctuated a most impressive meet by Liberty's men's distance crew with first-place finishes. Kiprop's 3K triumph headlined the Flames' 28-point haul in the meet's penultimate event. The talented freshman was followed across the line by Nathan Moore (third place, 8:19.28), Harkabus (fourth, 8:22.09), Tristian Merchant (fifth, 8:22.37) and Nicholas Kiprotich (sixth, 8:26.99).
Liberty's men's distance runners totaled an incredible 92 points for the meet, including the distance medley relay and the all-distance 4 x 400 relay unit.
Final Women's Team Scores
1) Liberty – 169
2) UTEP – 99
3) Middle Tennessee – 95
4) FIU – 84
5) New Mexico State – 62
6) Louisiana Tech – 53
7) Sam Houston – 46.5
8) WKU – 33
9) Jacksonville State – 21.5
Final Men's Team Scores
1) Liberty – 215.5
2) Sam Houston – 137.5
3) UTEP – 104.5
4) Middle Tennessee – 92
5) Louisiana Tech – 70.5
6) WKU – 37
Women's High Point Scorer of the Meet
Odilia Jepchumba, Middle Tennessee
Men's High Point Scorer of the Meet
Brian Kiptoo, Middle Tennessee
Women's Freshman of the Meet
Odilia Jepchumba, Middle Tennessee
Men's Freshman of the Meet
Edwin Kiprop, Liberty
Women's Coach of the Year
Lance Bingham, Liberty
Men's Coach of the Year
Lance Bingham, Liberty
Women's Day 2 CUSA Champions
Katelyn Locker – 800 – 2:06.99
Makenzy Mizera – Triple Jump – 39-10.75
Reese Webster – 60 – 7.32
Men's Day 2 CUSA Champions
Warren Barrett – Shot Put – 61-2
Anthony Bryan – Heptathlon – 5,187
Kyle Harkabus – Mile – 4:06.79
Edwin Kiprop – 3K – 8:15.26
Omari Lewis – 60 – 6.67
Brendan Pitcher – 800 – 1:51.77
Joshua Smith – Triple Jump – 50-0.5
Other Women's Day 2 Top 3 Finishers
2nd – Indea Cartwright – 60 Hurdles – 8.16
2nd – Megan Mann – Shot Put – 48-4.5
2nd – Reese Webster – 200 – 23.27
3rd – Adelyn Fairley – 3K – 9:37.74
3rd – Sofia Mojica – Shot Put – 47-7.75
Other Men's Day 2 Top 3 Finishers
2nd – Shane Wang – Triple Jump – 47-11.25
2nd – Daniel Van Duren – Heptathlon – 5,121
3rd – Omari Lewis – 200 – 21.11
3rd – Nathan Moore – 3K – 8:19.28
Women's Day 2 Record Breakers
Meet Record – Katelyn Locker – 800 – 2:06.99
Previous Record: 2:07.43 by UTEP's Jenny Holmroos on Feb. 25, 2006
Program Record – Indea Cartwright – 60 Hurdles – 8.16
Previous Record: 8.23 by Cartwright at the Liberty Kickoff on Dec. 2, 2022
Program Record – Reese Webster – 200 – 23.27
Previous Record: 23.28 by Webster during the CUSA prelims on Friday
Men's Day 2 Record Breakers
Program Record – Omari Lewis – 60 – 6.67
Previous Record: 6.70 by Lewis on three separate occasions
Day 2 Updates to Liberty's All-Time Women's Top 10 List
No. 1 – 200 – Reese Webster – 23.27
No. 1 – 60 Hurdles – Indea Cartwright – 8.16
No. 4 – 200 – Indea Cartwright – 24.19
No. 4 – 800 – Katelyn Locker – 2:06.99
No. 4 – 60 Hurdles – Ahvon Mitchell – 8.48
No. 6 – Shot Put – Sofia Mojica – 47-7.75
Day 2 Updates to Liberty's All-Time Men's Top 10 List
No. 1 – 60 – Omari Lewis – 6.67
No. 6 – Triple Jump – Joshua Smith – 50-0.5
No. 8 – 200 – Revell Webster – 21.41
No. 9 – Heptathlon – Daniel Van Duren – 5,121
Up Next
The 2024 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships will take place March 8-9 at the TRACK at New Balance in Boston, Mass. The full field of participants will be announced Tuesday evening on NCAA.com, with Warren Barrett in the running for a NCAA berth in the men's shot put for the second season in a row.
Most of Liberty's athletes will now turn their attention to the outdoor track & field season. The Flames' first outdoor meet will be the 49er Classic, March 14-16 in Charlotte, N.C.
Liberty won 17 of 34 events contested during the two-day meet and topped the men's and women's team leaderboards by a combined 148 points.
The Lady Flames posted a 70-point triumph (169-99) over runner-up UTEP, marking the largest margin of victory in the meet's 29-year history. Winners of three consecutive indoor conference titles overall, Liberty becomes the first women's team ever to take home the indoor track & field title in its first year of CUSA membership.
On the men's side, Liberty finished 78 points (215.5-137.5) clear of second-place Sam Houston for the largest margin of victory at this meet in 20 years. The Flames remain undefeated in men's indoor track & field conference championships at the Division I level, with the nation's longest active streak reaching 27 years on Saturday (21 Big South, 5 ASUN, 1 CUSA).
Liberty continues its amazing home track advantage, as the Flames and Lady Flames have now won 29 of a possible 30 conference men's and women's indoor and outdoor team titles in Lynchburg all-time.
Lance Bingham claimed both the CUSA Men's and Women's Coach of the Year honors, boosting his conference coach of the year tally to 12.
In just the second meet of his collegiate career, Edwin Kiprop swept the men's 3K and 5K titles to earn the CUSA Men's Freshman of the Meet trophy.
In addition to winning half of the meet's events, Liberty set seven program records, two CUSA meet records and a pair of facility records on Friday and Saturday combined.
The Flames' additions to those totals on Saturday included Katelyn Locker's meet record in the women's 800 (2:06.99) and program standards by Indea Cartwright (women's 60 hurdles – 8.16), Reese Webster (women's 200 – 23.27) and Omari Lewis (men's 60 – 6.67).
Women's Day 2 Recap
Webster started a string of four straight Liberty first-place finishes midway through Saturday's track program, taking top honors in the women's 60 in 7.32.
35 minutes later, Webster bettered the women's 200 program, meet and facility records she had set with her 23.28 clocking during Friday's prelims, crossing the finish line in 23.27. However, UTEP's Niesha Burgher beat her to the finish line with a 22.97 clocking, relegating Webster to a second-place finish and her ninth program-record performance of the season. Teammate Cartwright came in fifth in the race and fourth in program history in 24.19 after doing some record setting of her own.
Cartwright was the women's 60 hurdles runner-up in 8.16, shattering her own Liberty record of 8.23 from her first meet as a Lady Flame, the Liberty Kickoff on Dec. 2, 2022. Ahvon Mitchell's personal-best 8.48 clocking was good for fifth.
After leading off for the Lady Flames' record-breaking distance medley relay quartet Friday evening, Locker took down an 18-year-old meet record Saturday with her winning time of 2:06.99 in the women's 800. She joins Jaime Watson, Tanner Ealum and Meghan Burggraf as the only Lady Flames ever to dip under 2:07 indoors.
Makenzy Mizera required only three attempts to win the women's triple jump Saturday afternoon, thanks to a 39-10.75 hop, skip and jump in round three. During her first meet back from injury, Mizera claimed the long jump and triple jump titles with only four total jumps. She is the first CUSA athlete to sweep these two events at the same meet since 2018 (Rice's Michelle Fokam).
Megan Mann (second place, 48-4.5) and Sofia Mojica (third, 47-7.75) both stood on the women's shot put podium. Mojica made a big move up the leaderboard on her sixth attempt, thanks to a nearly three-foot personal best.
Adelyn Fairley completed her ASUN medal collection by nipping UTEP's Joyce Kemboi for third place in the women's 3K (9:37.74). She had previously won silver at the CUSA Cross Country Championships and gold in Friday's 5K final. Fairley is now a 13-time all-conference performer between cross country and track for her career.
Men's Day 2 Recap
Anthony Bryan (5,187 points) and Daniel Van Duren (personal-best 5,121) started Liberty's day off with a 1-2 heptathlon finish. Bryan is now a three-time conference heptathlon champion, previously claiming ASUN crowns in 2021 and 2023. He followed in the footsteps of younger sister Patasha Bryan, who struck gold in the pentathlon on Friday.
Anthony Bryan was one of four Liberty men's athletes on Saturday to win the same event they had at the 2023 ASUN Indoor Track & Field Championships, joining Lewis (men's 60 – 6.67), Brendan Pitcher (men's 800 – 1:51.77) and Joshua Smith (men's triple jump – 50-0.5).
For the second year in a row, Lewis set a program record while racing to the conference men's 60 championship. Last year's ASUN-winning time was 6.70, the first of three times he achieved that exact clocking. The sophomore finally took down the record with Saturday's victorious 6.67 effort.
Lewis also climbed onto the men's 200 awards podium with a third-place finish (21.11). Fellow Trinidad and Tobago native Revell Webster added a sixth-place showing in both short sprints, clocking a 60 time of 6.86 and a personal-best 21.41 in the 200.
Pitcher pulled out a men's 800 triumph in the final strides, with his 1:51.77 clocking edging out Middle Tennessee's Wail Bourahli (1:52.06). In the last meet of his collegiate career, teammate Isaiah Schulties added a fourth-place finish in 1:53.23.
A year ago as a freshman, Smith achieved an unlikely ASUN men's triple jump victory with a big personal-best leap of 49-7.75 in round six. This time around, he became Liberty's sixth member of the indoor 50-foot club in round six, with Smith's final attempt measuring 50-0.5.
Fellow sophomore Shane Wang made it a 1-2 Liberty sweep with a top mark of 47-11.25, matching his season best.
All-American Warren Barrett was dominant in claiming his first career conference title in the men's shot put. His best effort (61-2) defeated runner-up Dominykas Cepys of Sam Houston by 6.5 feet.
Kyle Harkabus (4:06.79 mile) and Kiprop (8:15.26 3K) punctuated a most impressive meet by Liberty's men's distance crew with first-place finishes. Kiprop's 3K triumph headlined the Flames' 28-point haul in the meet's penultimate event. The talented freshman was followed across the line by Nathan Moore (third place, 8:19.28), Harkabus (fourth, 8:22.09), Tristian Merchant (fifth, 8:22.37) and Nicholas Kiprotich (sixth, 8:26.99).
Liberty's men's distance runners totaled an incredible 92 points for the meet, including the distance medley relay and the all-distance 4 x 400 relay unit.
Final Women's Team Scores
1) Liberty – 169
2) UTEP – 99
3) Middle Tennessee – 95
4) FIU – 84
5) New Mexico State – 62
6) Louisiana Tech – 53
7) Sam Houston – 46.5
8) WKU – 33
9) Jacksonville State – 21.5
Final Men's Team Scores
1) Liberty – 215.5
2) Sam Houston – 137.5
3) UTEP – 104.5
4) Middle Tennessee – 92
5) Louisiana Tech – 70.5
6) WKU – 37
Women's High Point Scorer of the Meet
Odilia Jepchumba, Middle Tennessee
Men's High Point Scorer of the Meet
Brian Kiptoo, Middle Tennessee
Women's Freshman of the Meet
Odilia Jepchumba, Middle Tennessee
Men's Freshman of the Meet
Edwin Kiprop, Liberty
Women's Coach of the Year
Lance Bingham, Liberty
Men's Coach of the Year
Lance Bingham, Liberty
Women's Day 2 CUSA Champions
Katelyn Locker – 800 – 2:06.99
Makenzy Mizera – Triple Jump – 39-10.75
Reese Webster – 60 – 7.32
Men's Day 2 CUSA Champions
Warren Barrett – Shot Put – 61-2
Anthony Bryan – Heptathlon – 5,187
Kyle Harkabus – Mile – 4:06.79
Edwin Kiprop – 3K – 8:15.26
Omari Lewis – 60 – 6.67
Brendan Pitcher – 800 – 1:51.77
Joshua Smith – Triple Jump – 50-0.5
Other Women's Day 2 Top 3 Finishers
2nd – Indea Cartwright – 60 Hurdles – 8.16
2nd – Megan Mann – Shot Put – 48-4.5
2nd – Reese Webster – 200 – 23.27
3rd – Adelyn Fairley – 3K – 9:37.74
3rd – Sofia Mojica – Shot Put – 47-7.75
Other Men's Day 2 Top 3 Finishers
2nd – Shane Wang – Triple Jump – 47-11.25
2nd – Daniel Van Duren – Heptathlon – 5,121
3rd – Omari Lewis – 200 – 21.11
3rd – Nathan Moore – 3K – 8:19.28
Women's Day 2 Record Breakers
Meet Record – Katelyn Locker – 800 – 2:06.99
Previous Record: 2:07.43 by UTEP's Jenny Holmroos on Feb. 25, 2006
Program Record – Indea Cartwright – 60 Hurdles – 8.16
Previous Record: 8.23 by Cartwright at the Liberty Kickoff on Dec. 2, 2022
Program Record – Reese Webster – 200 – 23.27
Previous Record: 23.28 by Webster during the CUSA prelims on Friday
Men's Day 2 Record Breakers
Program Record – Omari Lewis – 60 – 6.67
Previous Record: 6.70 by Lewis on three separate occasions
Day 2 Updates to Liberty's All-Time Women's Top 10 List
No. 1 – 200 – Reese Webster – 23.27
No. 1 – 60 Hurdles – Indea Cartwright – 8.16
No. 4 – 200 – Indea Cartwright – 24.19
No. 4 – 800 – Katelyn Locker – 2:06.99
No. 4 – 60 Hurdles – Ahvon Mitchell – 8.48
No. 6 – Shot Put – Sofia Mojica – 47-7.75
Day 2 Updates to Liberty's All-Time Men's Top 10 List
No. 1 – 60 – Omari Lewis – 6.67
No. 6 – Triple Jump – Joshua Smith – 50-0.5
No. 8 – 200 – Revell Webster – 21.41
No. 9 – Heptathlon – Daniel Van Duren – 5,121
Up Next
The 2024 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships will take place March 8-9 at the TRACK at New Balance in Boston, Mass. The full field of participants will be announced Tuesday evening on NCAA.com, with Warren Barrett in the running for a NCAA berth in the men's shot put for the second season in a row.
Most of Liberty's athletes will now turn their attention to the outdoor track & field season. The Flames' first outdoor meet will be the 49er Classic, March 14-16 in Charlotte, N.C.
Players Mentioned
Throws
/ Track and Field
Decathlon
/ Track and Field
Heptathlon
/ Track and Field
Hurdles
/ Track and Field
Hurdles
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Mid-distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Jumps
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Mid-distance
/ Track and Field
Mid-distance
/ Track and Field
Jumps
/ Track and Field
Decathlon
/ Track and Field
Jumps
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and FieldCoach Zealand & Ryann Aycock Give An Update On The Cross Country Season
Wednesday, September 17
Emma Unger: Every Step of the Way
Wednesday, May 14
Follow the Leader: Lance Bingham
Tuesday, May 13
Beau Backes: Following God's Calling in Two Worlds
Friday, May 02