CUSA Women's Athlete of the Year Allie Zealand (left) and CUSA Women's Coach of the Year Heather Zealand (right)
Heather & Allie Zealand Win CUSA XC Superlatives
12/12/2025 2:00:00 PM | Cross Country
LYNCHBURG, Va. – Mother and daughter were both recognized for their successful cross country seasons by CUSA on Friday, as Liberty's Heather Zealand repeated as CUSA Women's Coach of the Year and Allie Zealand was voted CUSA Women's Athlete of the Year.
Heather Zealand becomes the first back-to-back CUSA Women's Coach of the Year since Middle Tennessee's Keith Vroman won three in a row between 2019-21. She is now a three-time coach of the year for her career, also including the fall 2021 ASUN award.
For the second year in a row, Zealand coached the Lady Flames to a dominating victory at the CUSA Championships. Liberty's 64-point margin of victory marked the second-largest win in meet history, trailing only the Lady Flames' 66-point triumph in 2024. Eight Liberty runners placed inside the top 21 to earn All-CUSA honors, equaling the program record for most all-conference performers in a single season (also spring 2021 ASUN).
The Lady Flames went on to place 10th at the NCAA Division I Southeast Regional Championships, marking the team's fourth top-10 regional showing in the last five years. Prior to this recent run of success under Zealand, Liberty had only finished among the Southeast Region's top 10 teams twice in program history.
Allie Zealand's sophomore season was one of the finest in Liberty women's cross country season. She earned her first All-America honor with a 21st-place finish at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships. The only CUSA runner (men's or women's) to qualify for this year's NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, Zealand became the Lady Flames' third NCAA Division I women's cross country All-American in program history.
Zealand posted six straight top-five placements to begin her season, headlined by a fifth-place showing at the NCAA Division I Southeast Regional Championships for all-region honors and a convincing individual title at the CUSA Championships (winning by 28.6 seconds).
Zealand clocked a program-record 5K time of 15:54.7 at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational and lowered the Liberty 6K standard three times (19:40.4 at the Pre-National Invitational, 19:14.3 at the NCAA Division I Southeast Regional Championships and 19:06.8 at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships). Her CUSA-winning 6K time of 19:53.0 was second fastest in meet history.
Zealand follows in the footsteps of former teammate Adelyn Fairley, who was tabbed the 2024 CUSA Women's Athlete of the Year. It is the first time a school has won this award in consecutive years since Rice's Grace Forbes claimed back-to-back CUSA Women's Athlete of the Year distinctions in 2020 and 2021.
Heather Zealand becomes the first back-to-back CUSA Women's Coach of the Year since Middle Tennessee's Keith Vroman won three in a row between 2019-21. She is now a three-time coach of the year for her career, also including the fall 2021 ASUN award.
For the second year in a row, Zealand coached the Lady Flames to a dominating victory at the CUSA Championships. Liberty's 64-point margin of victory marked the second-largest win in meet history, trailing only the Lady Flames' 66-point triumph in 2024. Eight Liberty runners placed inside the top 21 to earn All-CUSA honors, equaling the program record for most all-conference performers in a single season (also spring 2021 ASUN).
The Lady Flames went on to place 10th at the NCAA Division I Southeast Regional Championships, marking the team's fourth top-10 regional showing in the last five years. Prior to this recent run of success under Zealand, Liberty had only finished among the Southeast Region's top 10 teams twice in program history.
Allie Zealand's sophomore season was one of the finest in Liberty women's cross country season. She earned her first All-America honor with a 21st-place finish at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships. The only CUSA runner (men's or women's) to qualify for this year's NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, Zealand became the Lady Flames' third NCAA Division I women's cross country All-American in program history.
Zealand posted six straight top-five placements to begin her season, headlined by a fifth-place showing at the NCAA Division I Southeast Regional Championships for all-region honors and a convincing individual title at the CUSA Championships (winning by 28.6 seconds).
Zealand clocked a program-record 5K time of 15:54.7 at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational and lowered the Liberty 6K standard three times (19:40.4 at the Pre-National Invitational, 19:14.3 at the NCAA Division I Southeast Regional Championships and 19:06.8 at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships). Her CUSA-winning 6K time of 19:53.0 was second fastest in meet history.
Zealand follows in the footsteps of former teammate Adelyn Fairley, who was tabbed the 2024 CUSA Women's Athlete of the Year. It is the first time a school has won this award in consecutive years since Rice's Grace Forbes claimed back-to-back CUSA Women's Athlete of the Year distinctions in 2020 and 2021.
Players Mentioned
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
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The Sherard Family: On the Court and on the Track
Wednesday, January 21
Allie Zealand Talks About The Cross Country & Indoor Track Season
Friday, December 12
Coach Zealand & Ryann Aycock Give An Update On The Cross Country Season
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