Liberty to Return to Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup
2/3/2016 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Meet Information/Schedule
Live Results
For the ninth consecutive season, the Liberty men's and women's indoor track & field teams will compete in the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup. The team-scored meet will take place Friday and Saturday at Penn State's Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track in University Park, Pa.
The meet will get started Friday at 5 p.m. with the women's weight throw, women's pole vault, women's long jump and men's long jump. The men's pole vault and men's shot put will get things started Saturday morning at 11 a.m.
How to Follow the Flames and Lady Flames
Live results will be available throughout both days of competition.
Looking Ahead
Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track features a six-lane, 200-meter hydraulically banked track, which has yielded two Liberty women's school records (Jaime Watson – 600 – 1:28.2, Ednah Kurgat – 5K – 16:28.29).
The same type of track will be installed in Liberty's new indoor track & field facility, which is scheduled to open in time for the 2016-17 indoor season.
Keeping Score
The Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup will be Liberty's first scored meet of the 2015-16 indoor season. The Flames' best-ever team finishes at this meet are third on the men's side (2009) and fourth on the women's side (2014 and 2015).
Past Cup Champions
During its eight previous appearances at the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup, Liberty has won 13 total events. Below is a summary of the Flames' past event winners at this meet.
2008 – Clendon Henderson (Men's Shot Put)
2009 – Anthony Bryant (Men's High Jump), Sam Chelanga (Men's 3K), Matt Parker (Men's 60 Hurdles), Kolby Shepherd (Men's Pole Vault)
2010 – Kolby Shepherd (Men's Pole Vault), Jaime Watson (Women's 600)
2011 – Anthony Bryant (Men's High Jump), Ryan Smith (Men's Weight Throw)
2012 – Josh MacDonald (Men's 5K)
2013 – Josh MacDonald (Men's 3K)
2014 – Josh MacDonald (Men's 5K)
2015 – Ednah Kurgat (Women's 5K)
Looking Back at Last Year
In just her second meet as a Lady Flame, Ednah Kurgat won the women's 5K and placed second in the women's 3K at the 2015 Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup. Her 5K time of 16:28.29 broke the Liberty and Big South records and still stands at Kurgat's personal best.
The Lady Flames also racked up 16 points in the women's triple jump, thanks to Janae Jones (second place), Oasis Hernandez (fourth place) and Melissa Rohwer (sixth place). Liberty ended up fourth out of 12 teams in the final women's team standings, equaling the Lady Flames' best-ever finish at this meet.
Meanwhile, the Liberty men's squad came in eighth out of 12 teams. Zach Davis was the Flames' highest individual finisher, tying for second place in the men's high jump.
Keeping Up with Kurgat
Ednah Kurgat is slated to open her sophomore indoor track & field season by racing in the women's 3K, Saturday afternoon at 2:15 p.m. This will mark her first competition since her 12th-place finish at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, Nov. 21 in Louisville, Ky.
Kurgat fared well during her only previous visit to Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track, winning the 5K and placing second in the 3K at the 2015 Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup. Her winning 5K time of 16:28.29, which still ranks as her personal best, stands as the Liberty and Big South record.
Record Breakers
The quartet of Bradley Prentice, Andrew Crowell, Michael Todd and Colin Schultz provided one of the biggest highlights of the Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational, breaking the facility men's 4 x 800 relay record with a 7:45.73.
On Saturday, the four relay squad members will all make their season debut in the 800-meter run. The men's 800 is traditionally a strong event at this meet, as nine runners clocked sub-1:53.00 times at the 2015 Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup.
How Far Can She Fly?
The women's long jump record is the longest-standing mark in the Liberty women's indoor track & field record book. Liberty Athletics Hall of Famer Gina Gibson set the standard with her 19-1.25 lead at George Mason on Feb. 23, 1985.
Dana Mercer, who was not born until 1993, came close to Gibson's record with her personal-best 18-11.25 leap at the Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational. It was the longest indoor jump by a Lady Flame since 2007.
Mercer, who tops the Big South women's long jump performance list by six inches this season, will compete in the event on Friday.
Big South's Best
Three weeks before the 2016 Big South Indoor Track & Field Championships take place in Blacksburg, Va., Liberty athletes rank atop the Big South performance list in numerous events.
On the men's side, Ryan Davis (60 hurdles – 8.34), Zach Davis (high jump – 6-10.75 and heptathlon – converted score of 5,185), Stephen Racanelli (400 – converted time of 48.46) and Carson Waters (pole vault – 16-2.75) each rank first in the conference.
In women's events, Mychelle Cumings (shot put – 48-10.75), Erin Edmond (200 – converted time of 24.78), Erika Jackson (pentathlon – converted score of 3,595), Dana Mercer (long jump – 18-11.25) and Erin Zappia (high jump – 5-7) lead their respective disciplines. The Lady Flames also rank No. 1 in the 4 x 400 relay, with a converted time of 3:54.89.
