Liberty University
FSU Relays
Liberty Men Tie Host Seminoles for 2nd at FSU Relays
3/23/2018 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Sparked by event victories from Branson Rolle (men's 400 hurdles) and Carson Waters (men's pole vault), the Liberty men's squad tied host Florida State for second place at the 39th FSU Relays, Friday at Mike Long Track. Meanwhile, the Lady Flames ended up sixth in the women's team standings, aided by Jessie Glynn's women's pole vault title and Brenna Smith's school record in the women's javelin.
Liberty's second straight men's runner-up finish at this meet was not secured until Alejandro Perlaza Zapata overtook Georgia Tech on the anchor leg of the 4 x 400 relay with a stellar 45.13-second split. The Flames tied the Seminoles with 113 total points, as both teams trailed meet champion Florida's 161 tallies. The No. 4 Gators are just two weeks removed from winning the NCAA indoor team national title. As evidence of the meet's competitive nature, No. 18 Auburn finished last among the seven-team men's field with 76 points.
The Lady Flames ended up sixth of women's seven squads, totaling 89.5 points. Southern Miss was a surprise women's champion, with its 130 points edging out No. 8 Florida (128) and No. 19 Florida State (119.5).
Men's Meet Recap
Waters made a successful visit to his home state on Friday, pole vaulting 16-0.75 on his first attempt. That clearance enabled him to defeat Auburn's Chris Stone on misses and claim the event victory.
Rolle's winning time of 52.50 seconds in the men's 400 hurdles ranks No. 8 all-time for the Flames and eclipsed Brandon Hoskins' Liberty freshman record of 52.77 from the 2005 Big South meet. Markus Ballengee came in sixth with a 54.86 clocking, one of the sophomore's three new personal bests set on the day (also 143-6 discus and 168-10 javelin).
Perlaza Zapata made an immediate impact during his outdoor debut for the Flames. The 2016 Olympian took the baton in fifth place in the 4 x 400 relay before his aforementioned 45.13-second split pulled the Flames up to third in a time of 3:11.24. Jahquez Durham, Michael Todd and Rolle preceded Perlaza Zapata on the relay.
Perlaza Zapata's 200 dash time of 21.13 seconds was the fastest by a Flame in 17 years. It placed sixth in the event and led a trio of Flames under the 22-second mark. Travis Henderson's personal-best 21.59 clocking was good for 11th place, while Greg Edwards ran 21.86 for the 13th position.
Henderson, Perlaza Zapata, Edwards and Smalley teamed up for sixth place in the men's 4 x 100 relay, crossing the finish line in 41.29 seconds.
Rounding out the sprints, Henderson (ninth, 10.82) and Edwards (10th, 10.99) both scored points in the men's 100 dash. Meanwhile, Durham's Big South-leading 400 time of 48.41 claimed seventh place.
Redshirt senior Colin Schultz headlined a strong afternoon by the Flames' mid-distance/distance group. His personal-best 1,500 time of 3:46.19 earned fourth place both in the race and in program history.
Liberty picked up key team points late in the meet from the men's 2,000 steeplechase duo of Nick Doan (second place, 6:03.84) and Louis Paone (third, 6:09.88) and the 5K pairing of Benjamin Klemmeck (third, personal-best 15:03.41) and Augostine Lisoreng (eighth, 15:14.62).
Andrew Crowell ended up 11th in the men's 800 with the fastest time by a Big South runner thus far this season, 1:54.37.
William Partridge threw the shot put a season-best 53-10.25 for second place in the event and the No. 8 spot on Liberty's all-time chart. Earlier in the day, the junior had gotten Liberty's day started with an eighth-place showing in the men's hammer (171-3).
Liberty men's javelin throwers claimed four of the top 10 spots, led by Denzel Pratt. The junior from the Bahamas heaved the spear 211-4 for fifth place, punching his ticket to the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round meet.
The Flames' other top-10 javelin finishers were sophomores Samuel Arter (seventh, 201-8), Caleb Hart (eighth, 192-1) and Alexander Hoffsmith (10th, 191-2).
Darrel Jones' 47-5.75 triple jump earned a fourth-place finish. Jonny Saintil came in fifth (47-0.25), while Jeremiah McCants measured a personal-best 44-10.75 for seventh.
Women's Meet Recap
Glynn's women's pole vault victory came with a personal-best 13-3.5 clearance. The redshirt senior is now tied for third place in Big South history, thanks to her first time over 13 feet in three years. She also qualified for the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round meet in the process.
Freshman teammate Rachel Milnes tied for fourth place, making it over 11-11.75.
Smith will join teammate Paige Demetriades in the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round women's javelin competition after pushing her own school record from 158-7 to 159-3 in Friday's final event to wrap up. Smith ended up sixth in one of the day's deepest competitions.
The Lady Flames' throwers enjoyed a strong day across the board, beginning with the morning women's hammer competition. Dasiana Larson punched her NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round ticket with a season-best mark of 193-8, claiming the runner-up spot.
Holly Arey placed fifth at 175-10, improving her personal best by five feet. Chelsea Igberaese's sixth-place throw of 174-8 added eight feet to her own Liberty freshman record. Finally, Patria Vaimaona reached 160-0 for eighth place in the competition and ninth place on the Lady Flames' women's hammer top 10.
Freshman Naomi Mojica's 50-0 effort in the women's shot put made her the third thrower in conference history ever to reach the 50-foot mark and placed fifth in the event.
Larson (personal-best 46-4), Arey (personal-best 44-11) and Vaimaona (42-7.5) followed in seventh, eighth and ninth place, respectively.
Vaimaona's busy day also included an eighth-place showing in the women's discus. Her 150-3 throw ranks No. 6 all-time at Liberty.
Both of Liberty's women's relay teams enjoyed lofty finishes. The 4 x 100 quartet of Alexis Wilson, Kimone Green, Ty'Asia Dansbury and Cortney Dowling crossed the line in fourth with a time of 46.19 seconds.
Dansbury, Green, Delaney McDowell and Tanner Ealum later clocked 3:44.84 for a third-place finish in the 4 x 400.
In individual events, Green (200 dash – 10th place, 24.42) and Ealum (400 dash – sixth place, 55.91) both posted the Big South's fastest times of 2018.
Wilson (seventh place, season-best 12.12) and fellow freshman Nikayla Hoyte (ninth, season-best 12.36) both notched top-10 finishes in the women's 100.
McDowell ran Liberty's fastest 1,500 time of the day (4:37.04), slicing five seconds off her personal best for 19th place.
Arguably the Lady Flames' most impressive personal best in Tallahassee came in the women's 5K, courtesy of Kammi Kurtz. She ran the fastest time of her life by 34 seconds (17:39.26), coming in fourth in the race and joining the Lady Flames' all-time top 10.
Teammates Mary Kate McElroy (sixth, 17:49.64) and Greer Wilson (seventh, 17:55.42) also joined the 5K's sub-18:00 club on the day.
Alyssa Karle's 2,000 steeplechase time of 7:12.69 garnered sixth place, while Erin Hansel's personal-best 800 effort (2:16.91) claimed seventh-place points.
Freshman Hannah Andrews placed fourth in the women's triple jump, stretching the tape to a season-best 36-11.5.
Jaiden Mulder (ninth, 14.58) and Kylie Polsgrove (10th, 14.63) each scored points in the women's 100 hurdles.
Up Next
Liberty will divide its team between two prestigious meets next weekend, the Texas Relays and the Raleigh Relays.
The Texas Relays will span from Wednesday through Saturday at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas.
Meanwhile, the Raleigh Relays will be contested Friday and Saturday at Paul Derr Track in Raleigh, N.C.
