Thursday, December 4
Lynchburg, Va.
9:30 AM ET
Liberty University
vs
Liberty Kickoff
Markus White won the men's long jump invite section on Thursday with a leap of 24-11.
Host Flames Win 3 Events on Indoor Track’s Opening Day
12/4/2025 10:31:00 PM | Track and Field
LYNCHBURG, Va. – The host Flames posted a trio of first-place finishes on Thursday at the Liberty Kickoff, opening the 2025-26 indoor season and the 10th year of competition at the Brant Tolsma Indoor Track at the Liberty Indoor Track Complex in successful fashion.
Markus White (men's long jump invite – 24-11) and the All-American duo of Paola Bueno (women's weight throw – 62-10.5) and Katie Urbine (women's pole vault lower section – 12-9.5) notched Liberty's event victories.
Women's Day 1 Recap
Bueno began her senior season with her fourth consecutive Liberty Kickoff women's weight throw victory. She recorded the event's four longest throws, and her mark of 62-10.5 in round four outdistanced runner-up Adrianna Clarke of Elon by more than three feet.
Teammate Ellie Stine made a promising collegiate debut. She was the only freshman to make the women's weight throw final on Thursday, finishing sixth at 53-7.5.
Urbine and UNCW's Abby Burleson both successfully cleared 12-9.5 in the women's pole vault, but Urbine earned the victory with fewer total misses.
Patasha Bryan sped to a 2:18.54 to win the pentathlon Group A 800. However, she could not quite reel in Charlotte's Sasha Gregory in the final standings and lost by 13 points (3,963 to 3,950). Earlier in the day, Bryan had set new personal bests in the 60 hurdles (8.88) and long jump (18-5).
Paige Greenhagel lowered her personal bests in the same two events, thanks to a 9.39 60 hurdles and a 19-0.5 long jump. As a result, she came in ninth in Group A while scoring 3,449 points to add 83 tallies to her previous best total. Greenhagel's 19-0.5 long jump ties her with Kena Butts, Charlene Hibbert and Arlene Zelinskas for sixth on the Lady Flames' all-time list.
Freshman Lara DeFazio paced the Lady Flames in the open women's long jump, reaching a personal-best 18-9.75 for sixth place. That put her less than four inches off Makenzy Mizera's Liberty freshman-record leap of 19-1.5 from the 2019 ASUN Championship.
Men's Day 1 Recap
Competing in a Liberty uniform indoors for the first time, White made things dramatic in the invite section of the men's long jump. He sailed out to 24-11 in round six, coming from behind to top Virignia's Liam Paneque for the victory.
White, who long jumped an outdoor program-record 25-8 in May, now sits No. 3 on the Flames' all-time indoor long jump chart. He is less than two inches off Quinten Clay's record mark of 25-0.75 from the 2022 ASUN Championship.
Liberty took three of the top five positions in the men's weight throw, the final event to wrap up Thursday evening. Defending CUSA champion Kellen Kimes finished as the runner-up at 65-10.25, just one centimeter behind former North Carolina All-America hammer thrower James Joycey (65-10.5).
Christian Hicks (third, 59-7.75) and Trevor Veenstra (fifth, 57-7.75) joined Kimes near the top of the leaderboard.
Women's Day 1 Event Winners
Paola Bueno – Weight Throw – 62-10.5
Katie Urbine – Pole Vault Lower Section – 12-9.5
Men's Day 1 Event Winners
Markus White – Long Jump Invite – 24-11
Other Women's Day 1 Top 3 Finishers
2nd – Patasha Bryan – Pentathlon Group A – 3,950
Other Men's Day 1 Top 3 Finishers
2nd – Kellen Kimes – Weight Throw – 65-10.25
3rd – Christian Hicks – Weight Throw – 59-7.75
Day 1 Updates to Liberty's All-Time Women's Top 10 List
Tie for No. 6 – Long Jump – Paige Greenhagel – 19-0.5
Day 1 Updates to Liberty's All-Time Men's Top 10 List
No. 3 – Long Jump – Markus White – 24-11
Up Next
The Liberty Kickoff will wrap up with a full day of competition on Friday. The day's first event (heptathlon group B 60 hurdles) is set for a 9 a.m. start.
Markus White (men's long jump invite – 24-11) and the All-American duo of Paola Bueno (women's weight throw – 62-10.5) and Katie Urbine (women's pole vault lower section – 12-9.5) notched Liberty's event victories.
Women's Day 1 Recap
Bueno began her senior season with her fourth consecutive Liberty Kickoff women's weight throw victory. She recorded the event's four longest throws, and her mark of 62-10.5 in round four outdistanced runner-up Adrianna Clarke of Elon by more than three feet.
Teammate Ellie Stine made a promising collegiate debut. She was the only freshman to make the women's weight throw final on Thursday, finishing sixth at 53-7.5.
Urbine and UNCW's Abby Burleson both successfully cleared 12-9.5 in the women's pole vault, but Urbine earned the victory with fewer total misses.
Patasha Bryan sped to a 2:18.54 to win the pentathlon Group A 800. However, she could not quite reel in Charlotte's Sasha Gregory in the final standings and lost by 13 points (3,963 to 3,950). Earlier in the day, Bryan had set new personal bests in the 60 hurdles (8.88) and long jump (18-5).
Paige Greenhagel lowered her personal bests in the same two events, thanks to a 9.39 60 hurdles and a 19-0.5 long jump. As a result, she came in ninth in Group A while scoring 3,449 points to add 83 tallies to her previous best total. Greenhagel's 19-0.5 long jump ties her with Kena Butts, Charlene Hibbert and Arlene Zelinskas for sixth on the Lady Flames' all-time list.
Freshman Lara DeFazio paced the Lady Flames in the open women's long jump, reaching a personal-best 18-9.75 for sixth place. That put her less than four inches off Makenzy Mizera's Liberty freshman-record leap of 19-1.5 from the 2019 ASUN Championship.
Men's Day 1 Recap
Competing in a Liberty uniform indoors for the first time, White made things dramatic in the invite section of the men's long jump. He sailed out to 24-11 in round six, coming from behind to top Virignia's Liam Paneque for the victory.
White, who long jumped an outdoor program-record 25-8 in May, now sits No. 3 on the Flames' all-time indoor long jump chart. He is less than two inches off Quinten Clay's record mark of 25-0.75 from the 2022 ASUN Championship.
Liberty took three of the top five positions in the men's weight throw, the final event to wrap up Thursday evening. Defending CUSA champion Kellen Kimes finished as the runner-up at 65-10.25, just one centimeter behind former North Carolina All-America hammer thrower James Joycey (65-10.5).
Christian Hicks (third, 59-7.75) and Trevor Veenstra (fifth, 57-7.75) joined Kimes near the top of the leaderboard.
Women's Day 1 Event Winners
Paola Bueno – Weight Throw – 62-10.5
Katie Urbine – Pole Vault Lower Section – 12-9.5
Men's Day 1 Event Winners
Markus White – Long Jump Invite – 24-11
Other Women's Day 1 Top 3 Finishers
2nd – Patasha Bryan – Pentathlon Group A – 3,950
Other Men's Day 1 Top 3 Finishers
2nd – Kellen Kimes – Weight Throw – 65-10.25
3rd – Christian Hicks – Weight Throw – 59-7.75
Day 1 Updates to Liberty's All-Time Women's Top 10 List
Tie for No. 6 – Long Jump – Paige Greenhagel – 19-0.5
Day 1 Updates to Liberty's All-Time Men's Top 10 List
No. 3 – Long Jump – Markus White – 24-11
Up Next
The Liberty Kickoff will wrap up with a full day of competition on Friday. The day's first event (heptathlon group B 60 hurdles) is set for a 9 a.m. start.
Players Mentioned
Heptathlon
/ Track and Field
Hammer
/ Track and Field
Jumps
/ Track and Field
Heptathlon
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Jumps
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