Friday, May 30
Jacksonville, Fla.
1:00 PM ET
Liberty University
at
NCAA Division I East First Rounds
Christian Hicks
Hicks Narrowly Misses Eugene Qualification on Day 3
5/30/2025 7:37:00 PM | Track and Field
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Liberty's Christian Hicks came within one spot of qualifying to Eugene in the men's discus during the Flames' top performance at the NCAA Division I East First Rounds meet on Friday.
Hicks unleashed a throw of 185-8 down the right sector line on his third and final discus attempt. That kept him within the top 12 until the very last throw of the four-plus hour competition, when Princeton's Casey Helm pushed Hicks to 13th place.
Hicks fell only four inches shy of NCAA national qualification. However, the CUSA champion made a significant improvement upon his previous best finish at this meet (28th place in 2024).
Like Hicks, Beau Backes threw the discus at the NCAA Division I East First Rounds meet for the third time on Friday and posted his best-ever placement at this event. Backes' top mark of 170-7 was good for 28th place, considerably superior to the redshirt junior's No. 39 seed entering the competition.
Making his NCAA Division I East First Rounds meet debut, CUSA men's triple jump champion Joshua Smith came in 30th at 49-4.5.
The Flames clocked 40.47 for 21st place in their first NCAA Division I East First Rounds meet 4 x 100 relay appearance since 2022. The new-look squad of Troy McKnight, Elijah Sherard, Revell Webster and Omari Lewis became the eighth-fastest quartet in program history.
Later on, Lewis was unable to finish his men's 100 quarterfinal due to injury and had to scratch from the 200 quarterfinal.
Updates to Liberty's All-Time Men's Top 10 List
No. 8 – 4 x 100 Relay – Troy McKnight, Elijah Sherard, Revell Webster, Omari Lewis – 40.47
Up Next
The NCAA Division I East First Rounds meet will conclude on Saturday, with the Flames' first event (women's 4 x 100 relay) set for 5 p.m.
Hicks unleashed a throw of 185-8 down the right sector line on his third and final discus attempt. That kept him within the top 12 until the very last throw of the four-plus hour competition, when Princeton's Casey Helm pushed Hicks to 13th place.
Hicks fell only four inches shy of NCAA national qualification. However, the CUSA champion made a significant improvement upon his previous best finish at this meet (28th place in 2024).
Like Hicks, Beau Backes threw the discus at the NCAA Division I East First Rounds meet for the third time on Friday and posted his best-ever placement at this event. Backes' top mark of 170-7 was good for 28th place, considerably superior to the redshirt junior's No. 39 seed entering the competition.
Making his NCAA Division I East First Rounds meet debut, CUSA men's triple jump champion Joshua Smith came in 30th at 49-4.5.
The Flames clocked 40.47 for 21st place in their first NCAA Division I East First Rounds meet 4 x 100 relay appearance since 2022. The new-look squad of Troy McKnight, Elijah Sherard, Revell Webster and Omari Lewis became the eighth-fastest quartet in program history.
Later on, Lewis was unable to finish his men's 100 quarterfinal due to injury and had to scratch from the 200 quarterfinal.
Updates to Liberty's All-Time Men's Top 10 List
No. 8 – 4 x 100 Relay – Troy McKnight, Elijah Sherard, Revell Webster, Omari Lewis – 40.47
Up Next
The NCAA Division I East First Rounds meet will conclude on Saturday, with the Flames' first event (women's 4 x 100 relay) set for 5 p.m.
Players Mentioned
Throws
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Throws
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Sprints
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Sprints
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Sprints
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Jumps
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Sprints
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