Saturday, February 1
University Park, Pa.
10:00 AM ET
Liberty University
at
Penn State National Open
The Lady Flames' record-breaking DMR squad of (L-R): Patasha Bryan, Kate Goodyear, Jessica Palisca and Allie Zealand
Liberty Shatters Women’s DMR Program Record on Successful Saturday at Penn State
2/1/2025 7:20:00 PM | Track and Field
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Liberty closed out its successful two-day stay at Penn State's Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track with two new program records. Saturday's action at the Penn State National Open saw the quartet of Kate Goodyear, Patasha Bryan, Jessica Palisca and Allie Zealand shatter the women's distance medley relay program record with an 11:21.25 effort.
Liberty also won three events on the day, including a sweep of the unseeded 3K sections by Katie Sigerud (9:36.94) and Dale Hall (8:17.95) and a heptathlon victory by Gabriel Willis (5,224).
Women's Day 2 Recap
As part of a big weekend for the Liberty women's distance squad, the Lady Flames arrived at Penn State with their eyes set on breaking the distance medley relay standard. The previous mark of 11:32.82 was achieved while the team of Goodyear, Maddy Merritt, Palisca and Marie Hostetler raced to the 2024 CUSA title in Lynchburg.
The Lady Flames' record pursuit was a successful one, as their time of 11:21.25 lopped more than 11 seconds off the previous mark and placed them second to Princeton in the race. Saturday's splits included a 3:28.99 1,200 by Locker, a 57.05 400 by Bryan, a 2:10.28 800 by Palisca and a 4:44.94 1,600 anchor by Zealand. Locker, Palisca and Zealand all ran the fastest splits for their respective legs in Liberty women's distance medley relay history.
All five Lady Flames who ran the 3K distance on Saturday ran faster than 9:50, including victorious Sigerud (personal-best 9:36.94) and Ava Gordon (9:48.14) in the unseeded section and Adelyn Fairley (season-best 9:31.64), Marie Hostetler (personal-best 9:32.14) and Isabela Ross (season-best 9:49.56) in the invitational section.
Hostetler improved upon her previous best of 9:41.80 from the 2021 ASUN Championship while claiming the No. 4 spot on Liberty's all-time list. She had previously posted a personal-best 4:47.75 mile on Friday.
Sigerud became the fifth current Lady Flame on the all-time 3K chart, joining the list at No. 8. She has improved from 10:21.71 at the Liberty Kickoff to 9:47.58 at the Virginia Tech Invitational to 9:36.94 on Saturday, this season.
Mia Bowers continued her season of improvements in the women's pole vault, pushing her personal best to 13-3.5 for runner-up honors in the invitational section. Katie Urbine cleared the same height for a new season best, finishing third overall on misses.
Men's Day 2 Recap
One day after watching Meredith Engle score a program-record 4,131 points in the pentathlon, Willis closed out his career-best heptathlon. His winning score of 5,224 ranks No. 7 all-time for the Flames and makes Willis Liberty's 12th member of the 5,000-point club.
Willis' Saturday marks included an 8.48 60 hurdles, a 12-11.5 pole vault clearance and a 2:57.12 1,000. That enabled him to win the competition by 308 points and improve upon his previous best score by nearly 250 points.
Teammate Daniel Van Duren scored 4,737 points for third place in his first heptathlon of the year.
Like their female counterparts, Liberty showcased its depth in the men's 3K on Saturday. Hall's 8:17.95 effort in the freshman's collegiate 3K debut won the unseeded section by 2.5 seconds. Later in the day, Will Jefferson (8:16.11), Kyle Harkabus (8:19.59), Nathan Moore (8:20.02) and Jack Cottrell (8:25.55) each dipped under 8:30 in the invitational section
Women's Day 2 Event Winners
Katie Sigerud – Unseeded 3K – 9:36.94
Men's Day 2 Event Winners
Dale Hall – Unseeded 3K – 8:17.95
Gabriel Willis – Heptathlon – 5,224
Women's Day 2 Record Breakers
Liberty Record – DMR – Kate Goodyear, Patasha Bryan, Jessica Palisca, Allie Zealand – 11:21.25
Previous Record: 11:32.82 by Kate Goodyear, Maddy Merritt, Jessica Palisca and Marie Hostetler at the 2024 CUSA Championship (Feb. 23, 2024)
Day 2 Updates to Liberty's All-Time Women's Top 10 List
DMR – No. 1 – Goodyear, Bryan, Palisca, Zealand – 11:21.25
Pole Vault – No. 4 – Mia Bowers – 13-3.5
3K – No. 4 – Marie Hostetler – 9:32.14
3K – No. 8 – Katie Sigerud – 9:36.94
Day 2 Updates to Liberty's All-Time Men's Top 10 List
Heptathlon – No. 7 – Gabriel Willis – 5,224
Up Next
Liberty will return to Virginia for its first of three consecutive home meets. The Liberty Open is scheduled for Feb. 7-8 at the Brant Tolsma Indoor Track at the Liberty Indoor Track Complex.
Liberty also won three events on the day, including a sweep of the unseeded 3K sections by Katie Sigerud (9:36.94) and Dale Hall (8:17.95) and a heptathlon victory by Gabriel Willis (5,224).
Women's Day 2 Recap
As part of a big weekend for the Liberty women's distance squad, the Lady Flames arrived at Penn State with their eyes set on breaking the distance medley relay standard. The previous mark of 11:32.82 was achieved while the team of Goodyear, Maddy Merritt, Palisca and Marie Hostetler raced to the 2024 CUSA title in Lynchburg.
The Lady Flames' record pursuit was a successful one, as their time of 11:21.25 lopped more than 11 seconds off the previous mark and placed them second to Princeton in the race. Saturday's splits included a 3:28.99 1,200 by Locker, a 57.05 400 by Bryan, a 2:10.28 800 by Palisca and a 4:44.94 1,600 anchor by Zealand. Locker, Palisca and Zealand all ran the fastest splits for their respective legs in Liberty women's distance medley relay history.
All five Lady Flames who ran the 3K distance on Saturday ran faster than 9:50, including victorious Sigerud (personal-best 9:36.94) and Ava Gordon (9:48.14) in the unseeded section and Adelyn Fairley (season-best 9:31.64), Marie Hostetler (personal-best 9:32.14) and Isabela Ross (season-best 9:49.56) in the invitational section.
Hostetler improved upon her previous best of 9:41.80 from the 2021 ASUN Championship while claiming the No. 4 spot on Liberty's all-time list. She had previously posted a personal-best 4:47.75 mile on Friday.
Sigerud became the fifth current Lady Flame on the all-time 3K chart, joining the list at No. 8. She has improved from 10:21.71 at the Liberty Kickoff to 9:47.58 at the Virginia Tech Invitational to 9:36.94 on Saturday, this season.
Mia Bowers continued her season of improvements in the women's pole vault, pushing her personal best to 13-3.5 for runner-up honors in the invitational section. Katie Urbine cleared the same height for a new season best, finishing third overall on misses.
Men's Day 2 Recap
One day after watching Meredith Engle score a program-record 4,131 points in the pentathlon, Willis closed out his career-best heptathlon. His winning score of 5,224 ranks No. 7 all-time for the Flames and makes Willis Liberty's 12th member of the 5,000-point club.
Willis' Saturday marks included an 8.48 60 hurdles, a 12-11.5 pole vault clearance and a 2:57.12 1,000. That enabled him to win the competition by 308 points and improve upon his previous best score by nearly 250 points.
Teammate Daniel Van Duren scored 4,737 points for third place in his first heptathlon of the year.
Like their female counterparts, Liberty showcased its depth in the men's 3K on Saturday. Hall's 8:17.95 effort in the freshman's collegiate 3K debut won the unseeded section by 2.5 seconds. Later in the day, Will Jefferson (8:16.11), Kyle Harkabus (8:19.59), Nathan Moore (8:20.02) and Jack Cottrell (8:25.55) each dipped under 8:30 in the invitational section
Women's Day 2 Event Winners
Katie Sigerud – Unseeded 3K – 9:36.94
Men's Day 2 Event Winners
Dale Hall – Unseeded 3K – 8:17.95
Gabriel Willis – Heptathlon – 5,224
Women's Day 2 Record Breakers
Liberty Record – DMR – Kate Goodyear, Patasha Bryan, Jessica Palisca, Allie Zealand – 11:21.25
Previous Record: 11:32.82 by Kate Goodyear, Maddy Merritt, Jessica Palisca and Marie Hostetler at the 2024 CUSA Championship (Feb. 23, 2024)
Day 2 Updates to Liberty's All-Time Women's Top 10 List
DMR – No. 1 – Goodyear, Bryan, Palisca, Zealand – 11:21.25
Pole Vault – No. 4 – Mia Bowers – 13-3.5
3K – No. 4 – Marie Hostetler – 9:32.14
3K – No. 8 – Katie Sigerud – 9:36.94
Day 2 Updates to Liberty's All-Time Men's Top 10 List
Heptathlon – No. 7 – Gabriel Willis – 5,224
Up Next
Liberty will return to Virginia for its first of three consecutive home meets. The Liberty Open is scheduled for Feb. 7-8 at the Brant Tolsma Indoor Track at the Liberty Indoor Track Complex.
Players Mentioned
Pole Vault
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Heptathlon
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Distance
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Heptathlon
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Distance
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Mid-distance
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Distance
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Mid-distance
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Mid-distance
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Mid-distance
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Distance
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Sprints
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Distance
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Mid-distance
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Distance
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Mid-distance
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Pole Vault
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Decathlon
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Decathlon
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Distance
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