Kimes Tabbed VaSID Men’s Field Rookie of the Year

LYNCHBURG, Va. – Kellen Kimes was voted Field Rookie of the Year, headlining Liberty's Commonwealth-high 10 members of the 2024-25 Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) University Division Men's Indoor Track & Field All-State team, announced on Thursday.

Eight of Liberty's all-state honorees were first-team selections, including Elijah Sherard (sprints), Omari Lewis (sprints), Brendan Pitcher (mid-distance), Jack Cottrell (distance), Todd Benhase (jumps), Joshua Smith (jumps), Kimes (throws) and Gabriel Willis (multis).

Isaiah Idore (hurdles) and the 4 x 400 relay quartet of Simon Lamparelli, Eddy Vu, Revell Webster and Sherard earned second team all-state recognition.

Capsules of each Liberty honoree are found below.

Kellen Kimes (Field Rookie of the Year, 1^st Team – Throws)
Kimes punctuated his redshirt freshman season by claiming the CUSA men's weight throw title. His program-record 70-5.75 weight throw at the Liberty Open ranked No. 34 nationally for the year, including first among freshmen.

Todd Benhase (1^st Team – Jumps)
Benhase capped off a successful rookie season with a Liberty freshman-record 16-6.75 pole vault clearance at the CUSA Championship. That tied for second place in the competition and tied for seventh in program history.

Jack Cottrell (1^st Team – Distance)
Cottrell scored points in both of his events at the CUSA Championship, coming in third in the 3K and seventh in the 5K. He won the Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational men's 3K in a personal-best 8:06.00, moving up to No. 8 in program history.

Omari Lewis (1^st Team – Sprints)
Despite an injury which wiped out most of his season, Lewis placed third in the CUSA men's 60 final after clocking a program-record time of 6.65 during the prelims.

Brendan Pitcher (1^st Team – Mid-Distance)
Pitcher saved his fastest 800 of the season for last (1:51.82), earning a fifth-place finish in the CUSA final.

Elijah Sherard (1^st Team – Sprints)
Sherard closed out his freshman season in style, placing fourth at the CUSA Championship in both the men's 400 (Liberty freshman-record 47.45, No. 4 in program history) and 4 x 400 relay (3:12.72, No. 5 in program history).

Joshua Smith (1^st Team – Jumps)
Smith was the CUSA men's triple jump runner-up with an indoor-best leap of 50-2.75 which is tied for No. 3 all-time for the Flames.

Gabriel Willis (1^st Team – Multis)
Willis was voted CUSA Men's Field Performer of the Meet after leading all field event competitors with 18 points. He scored a personal-best 5,421 points (No. 2 in program history) to win the heptathlon and came back to finish second in the men's high jump.

Isaiah Idore (2^nd Team – Hurdles)
Idore's personal-best 60 hurdles time of 7.85 in the Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational semifinals ranks No. 2 in program history. He opened his breakthrough season with back-to-back men's 60 hurdles triumphs at the Liberty Kickoff and Virginia Tech Invitational.

4 x 400 Relay Team (2^nd Team)
The quartet of Simon Lamparelli, Eddy Vu, Revell Webster and Elijah Sherard clocked 3:12.72 for fourth place in the CUSA final. The time ranks No. 5 in program history and was the Flames' fastest effort in five years.

Schedule

Kimes Tabbed VaSID Men’s Field Rookie of the Year

Players Mentioned

Todd Benhase

Jack Cottrell

Isaiah Idore

Kellen Kimes

Simon Lamparelli

Omari Lewis

Brendan Pitcher

Elijah Sherard

Joshua Smith

Eddy Vu

Revell Webster

Gabriel Willis