Friday, April 4
Gainesville, Fla.
11:00 AM ET
Liberty University
at
Florida Relays
Indea Cartwright
Liberty Track Heading to Florida Relays and Colonial Relays
4/2/2025 11:05:00 AM | Track and Field
LYNCHBURG, Va. – Liberty will compete at a pair of long-running meets this week. A majority of the team will head to Gainesville, Fla., for the Florida Relays, a meet which was contested for the first time in 1939. A smaller group of Flames and Lady Flames will remain within the Commonwealth (Williamsburg, Va.) for the 59th edition of the Colonial Relays.
Both meets will feature events on both Friday and Saturday.
How to Follow the Flames and Lady Flames
Live results will be available throughout both events, courtesy of PrimeTime Timing (Florida Relays) and Blue Ridge Timing (Colonial Relays).
Weather Report
The weather forecast for Gainesville calls for partly cloudy skies and a high temperature in the low 90s for both Friday and Saturday.
In Williamsburg, the temperature is expected to reach the low 80s on Friday and Saturday with a chance of rain showers on Friday.
Record Alert
Liberty has not yet set a program record through the first two weekends of the 2025 outdoor season, but that could change this week.
A year ago, Indea Cartwright lowered the Liberty women's 100 hurdles record to 13.28 at the Florida Relays.
Cartwright is one of six current Liberty program record holders who will be competing in those events this weekend. She will join Omari Lewis (men's 100), Paola Bueno (women's hammer) and Addliae Watts (women's javelin) in Gainesville.
Meanwhile, Liberty's men's (Brendan Pitcher) and women's (Kate Goodyear) 800 record holders are both set to race the two-lap event in Williamsburg.
Plenty of Competition
The Flames' highest national rankings early in the season belong to the men's 4 x 100 relay quartet of Eddy Vu, Troy McKnight, Revell Webster and Omari Lewis (No. 10, 39.42) and Paola Bueno in the women's hammer (No. 13, 211-3). Both will face elite competition in Gainesville.
The Florida Relays men's 4 x 100 relay field features six of the nation's top 10 squads this season, including Minnesota (No. 3), South Florida (No. 5), North Carolina A&T (No. 7), Mississippi State (No. 8), Georgia (No. 9) and Liberty (No. 10), not to mention defending national champion Auburn.
Liberty's winning 4 x 100 time of 39.42 from the Dr. Jack M. Toms Alumni Invitational was the Flames' best-ever clocking in March and ranks No. 2 in program history behind the 39.08 effort from the 2022 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Bueno, who heaved the hammer 211-3 to finish as the Raleigh Relays runner-up, is one of four highly-ranked women's hammer athletes entered in the Florida Relays. The 2024 All-American will face FIU's Michaelle Valentin (No. 3), Georgia's Stephanie Ratcliffe (No. 4 and the 2023 national champion) and Mississippi State's Marie Rougetet (No. 5).
Three of the nation's top 13 women's hammer throwers this season hail from CUSA institutions, including Valentin, Bueno and Kennesaw State's Kali Terza (No. 12).
CUSA's Best
The following Flames and Lady Flames rank No. 1 in Conference USA in their events at this early stage of the 2025 outdoor track & field season. The 2025 CUSA Outdoor Track & Field Championships will take place at Dean A. Hayes Track and Soccer Stadium, May 16-18 in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Women's 5K – Adelyn Fairley – 16:03.91
Women's Shot Put – Bethany Tate – 49-0.75
Men's 800 – Brendan Pitcher – 1:50.66
Men's 4 x 100 – Vu, McKnight, Webster, Lewis – 39.42
Men's Discus – Christian Hicks – 184-8
Pack Your Bags for Jacksonville
The 2025 NCAA Division I East First Rounds meet will be contested at Visit Jax Track at Hodges Stadium, May 28-31 in Jacksonville, Fla. The following Flames and Lady Flames appear to be qualified for the meet, based upon historical results.
Christian Hicks – Men's Discus
Kellen Kimes – Men's Hammer
Omari Lewis – Men's 4 x 100
Troy McKnight – Men's 4 x 100
Eddy Vu – Men's 4 x 100
Revell Webster – Men's 4 x 100
Paola Bueno – Women's Hammer
Up Next
Liberty's heptathletes and decathletes will compete at the Duke Invitational, April 10-11 in Durham, N.C. The remainder of the team will remain in town for the University of Lynchburg's Dennis Craddock Coaches Classic, April 11-12.
Both meets will feature events on both Friday and Saturday.
How to Follow the Flames and Lady Flames
Live results will be available throughout both events, courtesy of PrimeTime Timing (Florida Relays) and Blue Ridge Timing (Colonial Relays).
Weather Report
The weather forecast for Gainesville calls for partly cloudy skies and a high temperature in the low 90s for both Friday and Saturday.
In Williamsburg, the temperature is expected to reach the low 80s on Friday and Saturday with a chance of rain showers on Friday.
Record Alert
Liberty has not yet set a program record through the first two weekends of the 2025 outdoor season, but that could change this week.
A year ago, Indea Cartwright lowered the Liberty women's 100 hurdles record to 13.28 at the Florida Relays.
Cartwright is one of six current Liberty program record holders who will be competing in those events this weekend. She will join Omari Lewis (men's 100), Paola Bueno (women's hammer) and Addliae Watts (women's javelin) in Gainesville.
Meanwhile, Liberty's men's (Brendan Pitcher) and women's (Kate Goodyear) 800 record holders are both set to race the two-lap event in Williamsburg.
Plenty of Competition
The Flames' highest national rankings early in the season belong to the men's 4 x 100 relay quartet of Eddy Vu, Troy McKnight, Revell Webster and Omari Lewis (No. 10, 39.42) and Paola Bueno in the women's hammer (No. 13, 211-3). Both will face elite competition in Gainesville.
The Florida Relays men's 4 x 100 relay field features six of the nation's top 10 squads this season, including Minnesota (No. 3), South Florida (No. 5), North Carolina A&T (No. 7), Mississippi State (No. 8), Georgia (No. 9) and Liberty (No. 10), not to mention defending national champion Auburn.
Liberty's winning 4 x 100 time of 39.42 from the Dr. Jack M. Toms Alumni Invitational was the Flames' best-ever clocking in March and ranks No. 2 in program history behind the 39.08 effort from the 2022 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Bueno, who heaved the hammer 211-3 to finish as the Raleigh Relays runner-up, is one of four highly-ranked women's hammer athletes entered in the Florida Relays. The 2024 All-American will face FIU's Michaelle Valentin (No. 3), Georgia's Stephanie Ratcliffe (No. 4 and the 2023 national champion) and Mississippi State's Marie Rougetet (No. 5).
Three of the nation's top 13 women's hammer throwers this season hail from CUSA institutions, including Valentin, Bueno and Kennesaw State's Kali Terza (No. 12).
CUSA's Best
The following Flames and Lady Flames rank No. 1 in Conference USA in their events at this early stage of the 2025 outdoor track & field season. The 2025 CUSA Outdoor Track & Field Championships will take place at Dean A. Hayes Track and Soccer Stadium, May 16-18 in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Women's 5K – Adelyn Fairley – 16:03.91
Women's Shot Put – Bethany Tate – 49-0.75
Men's 800 – Brendan Pitcher – 1:50.66
Men's 4 x 100 – Vu, McKnight, Webster, Lewis – 39.42
Men's Discus – Christian Hicks – 184-8
Pack Your Bags for Jacksonville
The 2025 NCAA Division I East First Rounds meet will be contested at Visit Jax Track at Hodges Stadium, May 28-31 in Jacksonville, Fla. The following Flames and Lady Flames appear to be qualified for the meet, based upon historical results.
Christian Hicks – Men's Discus
Kellen Kimes – Men's Hammer
Omari Lewis – Men's 4 x 100
Troy McKnight – Men's 4 x 100
Eddy Vu – Men's 4 x 100
Revell Webster – Men's 4 x 100
Paola Bueno – Women's Hammer
Up Next
Liberty's heptathletes and decathletes will compete at the Duke Invitational, April 10-11 in Durham, N.C. The remainder of the team will remain in town for the University of Lynchburg's Dennis Craddock Coaches Classic, April 11-12.
Players Mentioned
Hammer
/ Track and Field
Hurdles
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Mid-distance
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Sprints
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Mid-distance
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Sprints
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