Friday, May 15
Murfreesboro, Tenn.
10:00 AM ET/9:00 AM CT
Liberty University
at
Conference USA Outdoor Track Championships
(L-R): Jake Nicholson, Gabriel Willis, Hunter Bleam and Samuel O'Regan claimed the CUSA decathlon's top four positions on Friday.
Liberty Decathletes, Heptathletes Lead Way on CUSA Day 2
5/16/2026 12:22:00 AM | Track and Field
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Liberty's multi-event athletes took center stage on Friday, the second day of the 2026 CUSA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Dean A. Hayes Track & Soccer Stadium. Gabriel Willis' big personal best of 7,550 points led the Flames' 1-2-3-4 decathlon sweep, while Patasha Bryan tallied a program-record 5,591 points to claim her second CUSA heptathlon crown.
The Liberty men's squad, which also got a steeplechase victory from Sean Aiken, owns a 51-point advantage (128-77) over defending champion Kennesaw State through eight of 21 events.
After putting athletes on the podium in four of Friday's five event finals, the Lady Flames sit second in the women's team standings with 68 points. FIU leads the way with a score of 75.5 through eight women's disciplines.
Men's Day 2 Recap
Liberty went 1-2-3-4 in the CUSA decathlon for the second year in a row, with three of the same athletes (Willis, Hunter Bleam and Samuel O'Regan) returning from 2025. All four set new personal bests, including Willis (7,550), runner-up Jake Nicholson (7,282), third-place Bleam (6,463) and fourth-place Samuel O'Regan (6,339).
Willis completed a sweep of this year's CUSA heptathlon and decathlon crowns with a score of 7,550 (a 209-point personal best) which ranks No. 4 in program history. It also gives the sixth-year senior a shot to become one of the 24 decathletes who compete at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Ore., next month.
Willis became the third different Flame to capture the CUSA decathlon crown in the last three years. Defining moments of his Friday included a clutch third attempt pole vault clearance at a season-best 15-1 and a big 1,500 personal best of 4:35.88 to put an exclamation point on things.
Nicholson's 7,282 points (a 200-point personal best) ranks No. 12 all-time for the Flames and second among freshmen behind Brandon Hoskins' 7,398-point showing at the 2005 IC4A Championship.
With 6,463 points (a 287-point personal best), Bleam repeated his third-place finish from a year ago and graduates with a trio of conference decathlon bronze medals (also 2023 ASUN). Bleam's 144-2 discus effort on Friday sits No. 4 on the Flames' all-time decathlon discus ledger.
O'Regan's 6,339 points (a 187-point personal best) netted the junior his second straight CUSA fourth-place effort.
Later in the evening, the Flames' decathletes contributed eight more team points in the men's high jump, including a fourth place for Willis (6-6.75), a seventh for Bleam (6-1.5) and an eighth for Nicholson (5-11.5).
Aiken (9:31.30) and Eli Julian (personal-best 9:31.81) ran up front throughout the five-person men's steeplechase final, crossing the line more than 30 seconds clear of their nearest competitor. Robbie Annett (10:07.71) added a fourth-place finish to make it a 23-point event for the Flames.
Aiken became the Flames' first conference champion in this event since 2022, when Felix Kandie raced to the ASUN title.
Trevor Veenstra (second, outdoor personal-best 58-2.5) and Christian Hicks (third, 57-9.75) each garnered all-conference honors in the men's shot put. Veenstra's effort ranks No. 8 in program history and boosts the sophomore's chances at NCAA Division I East First Rounds qualification.
Josh Blalock will have a chance to defend his CUSA men's 400 hurdles title on Saturday after pacing all athletes with a 52.43 qualifying time on Friday. Meanwhile, Michael Long (1:51.55) and Brendan Pitcher (1:51.69) each comfortably moved on to the men's 800 final.
Women's Day 2 Recap
Bryan's second CUSA heptathlon victory in three years came with a score of 5,591 that broke her own Liberty record of 5,567 from last month's Bryan Clay Multis and was the highest point total at this meet since 2017.
Bryan closed out a sweep of the 2026 CUSA pentathlon and heptathlon championships by topping all of her competitors in the final two disciplines (javelin – 131-2 and 800 – 2:14.20). She also came back to place a team-best seventh in Friday evening's women's high jump competition with a 5-5 clearance.
Defending heptathlon champion Meredith Engle, who sat in 14th place after falling in the 100 hurdles Thursday morning, battled all the way back to fourth in the final standings with 5,039 points.
Paige Greenhagel closed out a memorable final heptathlon for all three Liberty seniors with a sixth-place finish and a 163-point personal best (4,860 points).
Greenhagel led the way during the Lady Flames' outstanding long jump performance to kick off day two of the heptathlon, reaching a personal-best 19-3.25. That is the second best leap ever within a Liberty heptathlon and ranks No. 9 on the Lady Flames' outdoor long jump chart.
Engle (personal-best 18-11.75) and Bryan (18-7.75) also joined the ranks of the top five heptathlon long jumpers ever for the Lady Flames with their efforts in Murfreesboro.
Bethany Tate's 51-5.75 shot put on her opening attempt nearly enabled her to defend her CUSA title. But New Mexico State's Alesha Lane overtook the sophomore in round six. Classmate Tabby DeJong backed up Tate's runner-up showing in seventh place (44-1.5).
Katrina Schlenker led for much of the women's steeplechase before falling on the next-to-last lap. She recovered to earn her third straight CUSA runner-up finish in the event with a 10:10.76 clocking. Meanwhile, Raini Mayo's 10:37.99 effort moved her up from seventh place in 2025 to fifth on Friday.
Katie Urbine collected her first career All-CUSA medal (third place) thanks to a successful second-attempt clearance at a season-best 13-1.5.
Rachel Hill (2:10.18), Eden Alexander (2:10.41) and Allie Zealand (2:11.17) all advanced to Saturday's women's 800 final.
Zealand qualified for her second final (also 1,500), as did teammates Alivia Rivera-Norman (1:02.27 400 hurdles to go along with the 100 hurdles from Thursday) and Iyana Sherard (23.78 200 to go along with the 100 from Thursday).
Men's Team Scores (Through 8 of 21 Events)
1) Liberty – 128
2) Kennesaw State – 77
3) Middle Tennessee – 33
4) Western Kentucky – 26.5
5) UTEP – 16
6) Louisiana Tech – 10
7) Sam Houston – 9
8) FIU – 5.5
Women's Team Scores (Through 8 of 21 Events)
1) FIU – 75.5
2) Liberty – 68
3) Kennesaw State – 44
4) New Mexico State – 33
5) Missouri State – 23.5
6) Sam Houston – 19
7) Delaware – 15
8) Western Kentucky – 13
9) Middle Tennessee – 10
10) Louisiana Tech – 6
11) Jacksonville State – 5
Men's Day 2 CUSA Champions
Sean Aiken – Steeplechase – 9:31.30
Gabriel Willis – Decathlon – 7,550
Women's Day 2 CUSA Champions
Patasha Bryan – Heptathlon – 5,591
Other Men's Day 2 Top 3 Finishers
2nd – Eli Julian – Steeplechase – 9:31.81
2nd – Jake Nicholson – Decathlon – 7,282
2nd – Trevor Veenstra – Shot Put – 58-2.5
3rd – Hunter Bleam – Decathlon – 6,463
3rd – Christian Hicks – Shot Put – 57-9.75
Other Women's Day 2 Top 3 Finishers
2nd – Katrina Schlenker – Steeplechase – 10:10.76
2nd – Bethany Tate – Shot Put – 51-5.75
3rd – Katie Urbine – Pole Vault – 13-1.5
Women's Day 2 Record Breakers
Liberty Record – Heptathlon – Patasha Bryan – 5,591
Previous Record: 5,567 by Bryan at the Bryan Clay Multis on April 9-10
Day 2 Updates to Liberty's All-Time Men's Top 10 List
No. 4 – Decathlon – Gabriel Willis – 7,550
No. 4 – Decathlon Discus – Hunter Bleam – 144-2
No. 8 – Shot Put – Trevor Veenstra – 58-2.5
Day 2 Updates to Liberty's All-Time Women's Top 10 List
No. 1 – Heptathlon – Patasha Bryan – 5,591
No. 2 – Heptathlon Long Jump – Paige Greenhagel – 19-3.25
No. 4 – Heptathlon Long Jump – Meredith Engle – 18-11.75
No. 5 – Heptathlon Long Jump – Patasha Bryan – 18-7.75
No. 9 – Long Jump – Paige Greenhagel – 19-3.25
Up Next
The 2026 CUSA Outdoor Track & Field Championships will conclude with a busy Saturday which will include 26 event finals, beginning with the men's javelin at Noon Eastern and wrapping up with the women's 4 x 400 relay at 10 p.m. Eastern. ESPN+ will televise the action, starting at 7 p.m. Eastern with the men's 4 x 100 relay.
The Liberty men's squad, which also got a steeplechase victory from Sean Aiken, owns a 51-point advantage (128-77) over defending champion Kennesaw State through eight of 21 events.
After putting athletes on the podium in four of Friday's five event finals, the Lady Flames sit second in the women's team standings with 68 points. FIU leads the way with a score of 75.5 through eight women's disciplines.
Men's Day 2 Recap
Liberty went 1-2-3-4 in the CUSA decathlon for the second year in a row, with three of the same athletes (Willis, Hunter Bleam and Samuel O'Regan) returning from 2025. All four set new personal bests, including Willis (7,550), runner-up Jake Nicholson (7,282), third-place Bleam (6,463) and fourth-place Samuel O'Regan (6,339).
Willis completed a sweep of this year's CUSA heptathlon and decathlon crowns with a score of 7,550 (a 209-point personal best) which ranks No. 4 in program history. It also gives the sixth-year senior a shot to become one of the 24 decathletes who compete at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Ore., next month.
Willis became the third different Flame to capture the CUSA decathlon crown in the last three years. Defining moments of his Friday included a clutch third attempt pole vault clearance at a season-best 15-1 and a big 1,500 personal best of 4:35.88 to put an exclamation point on things.
Nicholson's 7,282 points (a 200-point personal best) ranks No. 12 all-time for the Flames and second among freshmen behind Brandon Hoskins' 7,398-point showing at the 2005 IC4A Championship.
With 6,463 points (a 287-point personal best), Bleam repeated his third-place finish from a year ago and graduates with a trio of conference decathlon bronze medals (also 2023 ASUN). Bleam's 144-2 discus effort on Friday sits No. 4 on the Flames' all-time decathlon discus ledger.
O'Regan's 6,339 points (a 187-point personal best) netted the junior his second straight CUSA fourth-place effort.
Later in the evening, the Flames' decathletes contributed eight more team points in the men's high jump, including a fourth place for Willis (6-6.75), a seventh for Bleam (6-1.5) and an eighth for Nicholson (5-11.5).
Aiken (9:31.30) and Eli Julian (personal-best 9:31.81) ran up front throughout the five-person men's steeplechase final, crossing the line more than 30 seconds clear of their nearest competitor. Robbie Annett (10:07.71) added a fourth-place finish to make it a 23-point event for the Flames.
Aiken became the Flames' first conference champion in this event since 2022, when Felix Kandie raced to the ASUN title.
Trevor Veenstra (second, outdoor personal-best 58-2.5) and Christian Hicks (third, 57-9.75) each garnered all-conference honors in the men's shot put. Veenstra's effort ranks No. 8 in program history and boosts the sophomore's chances at NCAA Division I East First Rounds qualification.
Josh Blalock will have a chance to defend his CUSA men's 400 hurdles title on Saturday after pacing all athletes with a 52.43 qualifying time on Friday. Meanwhile, Michael Long (1:51.55) and Brendan Pitcher (1:51.69) each comfortably moved on to the men's 800 final.
Women's Day 2 Recap
Bryan's second CUSA heptathlon victory in three years came with a score of 5,591 that broke her own Liberty record of 5,567 from last month's Bryan Clay Multis and was the highest point total at this meet since 2017.
Bryan closed out a sweep of the 2026 CUSA pentathlon and heptathlon championships by topping all of her competitors in the final two disciplines (javelin – 131-2 and 800 – 2:14.20). She also came back to place a team-best seventh in Friday evening's women's high jump competition with a 5-5 clearance.
Defending heptathlon champion Meredith Engle, who sat in 14th place after falling in the 100 hurdles Thursday morning, battled all the way back to fourth in the final standings with 5,039 points.
Paige Greenhagel closed out a memorable final heptathlon for all three Liberty seniors with a sixth-place finish and a 163-point personal best (4,860 points).
Greenhagel led the way during the Lady Flames' outstanding long jump performance to kick off day two of the heptathlon, reaching a personal-best 19-3.25. That is the second best leap ever within a Liberty heptathlon and ranks No. 9 on the Lady Flames' outdoor long jump chart.
Engle (personal-best 18-11.75) and Bryan (18-7.75) also joined the ranks of the top five heptathlon long jumpers ever for the Lady Flames with their efforts in Murfreesboro.
Bethany Tate's 51-5.75 shot put on her opening attempt nearly enabled her to defend her CUSA title. But New Mexico State's Alesha Lane overtook the sophomore in round six. Classmate Tabby DeJong backed up Tate's runner-up showing in seventh place (44-1.5).
Katrina Schlenker led for much of the women's steeplechase before falling on the next-to-last lap. She recovered to earn her third straight CUSA runner-up finish in the event with a 10:10.76 clocking. Meanwhile, Raini Mayo's 10:37.99 effort moved her up from seventh place in 2025 to fifth on Friday.
Katie Urbine collected her first career All-CUSA medal (third place) thanks to a successful second-attempt clearance at a season-best 13-1.5.
Rachel Hill (2:10.18), Eden Alexander (2:10.41) and Allie Zealand (2:11.17) all advanced to Saturday's women's 800 final.
Zealand qualified for her second final (also 1,500), as did teammates Alivia Rivera-Norman (1:02.27 400 hurdles to go along with the 100 hurdles from Thursday) and Iyana Sherard (23.78 200 to go along with the 100 from Thursday).
Men's Team Scores (Through 8 of 21 Events)
1) Liberty – 128
2) Kennesaw State – 77
3) Middle Tennessee – 33
4) Western Kentucky – 26.5
5) UTEP – 16
6) Louisiana Tech – 10
7) Sam Houston – 9
8) FIU – 5.5
Women's Team Scores (Through 8 of 21 Events)
1) FIU – 75.5
2) Liberty – 68
3) Kennesaw State – 44
4) New Mexico State – 33
5) Missouri State – 23.5
6) Sam Houston – 19
7) Delaware – 15
8) Western Kentucky – 13
9) Middle Tennessee – 10
10) Louisiana Tech – 6
11) Jacksonville State – 5
Men's Day 2 CUSA Champions
Sean Aiken – Steeplechase – 9:31.30
Gabriel Willis – Decathlon – 7,550
Women's Day 2 CUSA Champions
Patasha Bryan – Heptathlon – 5,591
Other Men's Day 2 Top 3 Finishers
2nd – Eli Julian – Steeplechase – 9:31.81
2nd – Jake Nicholson – Decathlon – 7,282
2nd – Trevor Veenstra – Shot Put – 58-2.5
3rd – Hunter Bleam – Decathlon – 6,463
3rd – Christian Hicks – Shot Put – 57-9.75
Other Women's Day 2 Top 3 Finishers
2nd – Katrina Schlenker – Steeplechase – 10:10.76
2nd – Bethany Tate – Shot Put – 51-5.75
3rd – Katie Urbine – Pole Vault – 13-1.5
Women's Day 2 Record Breakers
Liberty Record – Heptathlon – Patasha Bryan – 5,591
Previous Record: 5,567 by Bryan at the Bryan Clay Multis on April 9-10
Day 2 Updates to Liberty's All-Time Men's Top 10 List
No. 4 – Decathlon – Gabriel Willis – 7,550
No. 4 – Decathlon Discus – Hunter Bleam – 144-2
No. 8 – Shot Put – Trevor Veenstra – 58-2.5
Day 2 Updates to Liberty's All-Time Women's Top 10 List
No. 1 – Heptathlon – Patasha Bryan – 5,591
No. 2 – Heptathlon Long Jump – Paige Greenhagel – 19-3.25
No. 4 – Heptathlon Long Jump – Meredith Engle – 18-11.75
No. 5 – Heptathlon Long Jump – Patasha Bryan – 18-7.75
No. 9 – Long Jump – Paige Greenhagel – 19-3.25
Up Next
The 2026 CUSA Outdoor Track & Field Championships will conclude with a busy Saturday which will include 26 event finals, beginning with the men's javelin at Noon Eastern and wrapping up with the women's 4 x 400 relay at 10 p.m. Eastern. ESPN+ will televise the action, starting at 7 p.m. Eastern with the men's 4 x 100 relay.
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