Saturday, March 14
Fayetteville, Ark.
6:00 PM ET/5:00 PM CT
Liberty University
at
NCAA Division I Indoor Track Championships
Allie Zealand is now a two-time All-American after her fifth-place women's 3K finish on Saturday.
Zealand, Ouedraogo Earn All-America Honors in Fayetteville
3/14/2026 9:39:00 PM | Track and Field
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Liberty's Allie Zealand (fifth place in women's 3K, first team All-American) and Gilles Ouedraogo (12th place in men's triple jump, second team All-American) each earned All-America recognition at the 2026 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships, Saturday at Arkansas' Randal Tyson Track Center.
Zealand collected the Lady Flames' first four team points at this meet since 2002, when Heather (Sagan) Zealand, her mother and coach, raced to the women's mile national title and Andrea Wildrick shared fourth place in the women's pole vault at this same facility. As a result, the Lady Flames tied Arizona, Cal, Duke, Penn State and UTRGV for 37th place in this year's final team standings.
Zealand's final time of 8:45.12 just missed her own program record of 8:44.71 from the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener on Dec. 6. The sophomore from Forest, Va., ran in second place during the latter stages of the race, giving chase to eventual champion Jane Hedengren of BYU. At the end, Zealand was outkicked on the final lap by the New Mexico duo of Pamela Kosgei and Marion Jepngetich and Iowa State's Betty Kipkore as freshmen and sophomores swept the race's top five spots.
Zealand and Hedengren, a pair of 19-year-olds, were the only two Americans to finish inside the 3K's top eight and become first team All-Americans. Hedengren, who clocked a meet-record 8:36.61, completed a sweep of the NCAA 3K and 5K titles.
Zealand, who was making her first appearance at this meet, garnered her first All-America medal on the track and her second overall. She previously placed 21st at the 2025 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in November. Zealand joins Ednah Kurgat (2015-16) as the only Lady Flames to become NCAA Division I All-Americans in cross country and track & field during the same academic year.
Meanwhile, Ouedraogo punctuated a memorable debut season as a Flame by becoming Liberty's first triple jump All-American, either men's or women's and either indoors or outdoors. After earning the men's triple jump's 16th and final invitation to Fayetteville, the Burkina Faso native reached 52-8.75 on his first attempt. That stood up for 12th place in the final standings and garnered second team All-America honors.
Prior to Saturday, the best national showing by a Flame in the triple jump had been 21st place by Darrel Jones at the 2018 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Ouedraogo, who enrolled at Liberty in January, had set the program record in each of his first four competitions as a Flame. Most recently, he led a 1-2-3 Liberty sweep in the CUSA men's triple jump final with a 53-1 effort on Feb. 28.
Up Next
Liberty will begin the 2026 outdoor track & field season on March 21, heading to Lannigan Field in Charlottesville, Va., for the Virginia Opener.
Zealand collected the Lady Flames' first four team points at this meet since 2002, when Heather (Sagan) Zealand, her mother and coach, raced to the women's mile national title and Andrea Wildrick shared fourth place in the women's pole vault at this same facility. As a result, the Lady Flames tied Arizona, Cal, Duke, Penn State and UTRGV for 37th place in this year's final team standings.
Zealand's final time of 8:45.12 just missed her own program record of 8:44.71 from the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener on Dec. 6. The sophomore from Forest, Va., ran in second place during the latter stages of the race, giving chase to eventual champion Jane Hedengren of BYU. At the end, Zealand was outkicked on the final lap by the New Mexico duo of Pamela Kosgei and Marion Jepngetich and Iowa State's Betty Kipkore as freshmen and sophomores swept the race's top five spots.
Zealand and Hedengren, a pair of 19-year-olds, were the only two Americans to finish inside the 3K's top eight and become first team All-Americans. Hedengren, who clocked a meet-record 8:36.61, completed a sweep of the NCAA 3K and 5K titles.
Zealand, who was making her first appearance at this meet, garnered her first All-America medal on the track and her second overall. She previously placed 21st at the 2025 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in November. Zealand joins Ednah Kurgat (2015-16) as the only Lady Flames to become NCAA Division I All-Americans in cross country and track & field during the same academic year.
Meanwhile, Ouedraogo punctuated a memorable debut season as a Flame by becoming Liberty's first triple jump All-American, either men's or women's and either indoors or outdoors. After earning the men's triple jump's 16th and final invitation to Fayetteville, the Burkina Faso native reached 52-8.75 on his first attempt. That stood up for 12th place in the final standings and garnered second team All-America honors.
Prior to Saturday, the best national showing by a Flame in the triple jump had been 21st place by Darrel Jones at the 2018 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Ouedraogo, who enrolled at Liberty in January, had set the program record in each of his first four competitions as a Flame. Most recently, he led a 1-2-3 Liberty sweep in the CUSA men's triple jump final with a 53-1 effort on Feb. 28.
Up Next
Liberty will begin the 2026 outdoor track & field season on March 21, heading to Lannigan Field in Charlottesville, Va., for the Virginia Opener.
Players Mentioned
Jumps
/ Track and Field
Mid-Distance
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