Liberty University
Liberty Quad
Throwers Lead Way at Liberty Quad
2/11/2011 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Liberty won all four throwing events, highlighting the Flames' performance at Friday evening's fifth annual Liberty Quad at the Tolsma Indoor Track Center. In total, Liberty captured a dozen first-place finishes, two new IC4A qualifiers and one new ECAC qualifier in their final home event of the 2010-11 season.
The one-day meet, which also featured competitors from Elon, James Madison and Wake Forest, also saw two facility records eclipsed. Both standards were set by Wake Forest athletes in mid-distance events.
Anna Nosenko blazed a 4:47.32, taking down the mark of 4:49.81 set by Heather Zealand during the first meet ever held at the Tolsma Indoor Track Center, on Jan. 29, 2005. Meanwhile, Thomas Morrison's 1:53.40 clocking in the 800 improved upon the existing standard of 1:53.85 by Hampton's Brandon Lynch.
Women's Meet Recap
Freshman Rachel Barnes added more than a foot and a half to her personal best while winning the women's shot put, stretching the tape to 42-3.5 on her best effort of the day. The longest shot put by a Lady Flame since 2007 moved Barnes up to No. 4 in program history for the event.
Meanwhile, Liberty enjoyed a 1-2 finish in the women's weight throw. Melinda Bendik led the way at 52-1.25, followed by freshman Jocelyn Williams' 48-2.75 toss.
Sophomore Shelley Parker won the women's pole vault with a third-attempt clearance at a personal-best height of 11-9.75. She qualified for the ECAC meet and moved up to third place in Liberty history for the indoor pole vault. No Lady Flame had vaulted that high since 2005.
The Lady Flames' final victory came courtesy of freshman Kristen Willeford in the high jump. She sailed over 5-3 on her first try, sealing the first win of her young career.
Men's Meet Recap
Personal-best marks were plentiful in the men's throwing events. Liberty swept the top three places in the men's shot put, with all three throwers reaching career bests. Multi-event athlete Jacob DeValve led the way with an IC4A-qualifying heave of 51-7.75, claiming the No. 10 spot in Flames history. He was followed by Elliot Galeone (48-10.25) and Tim Abbott (46-1.5).
Galeone had earlier taken top honors in the weight throw. His personal-best 50-9.5 toss puts the redshirt senior 10th in program history.
The Flames' other new IC4A qualifier was sophomore Roderick Spruel. He clocked a new personal-best time of 6.95 in the 60-meter dash to take second place.
Sophomores Taylor Courtney and Kevin Reddington were both double winners on Friday. Courtney won the 400-meter dash in a season-best 50.19 seconds, while Reddington repeated as long jump champion at 23-2.
Courtney and Reddington later teamed up with Christopher Arvey and Drew Edwards to post a come-from-behind victory over Wake Forest in the 4 x 400 relay. The quartet's time was 3:24.63.
Liberty was dominant in the 1,000-meter run, with Isaac Wendland, Jarred Cornfield, Jordan Bright and Joel Terry going 1-2-3-4, respectively. Wendland's personal-best 2:29.97 claimed the No. 6 spot in Liberty history, but left him a tantalizing .02 seconds away from the IC4A standard.
The Flames also got event victories from Tashan Duff's 44-1.5 triple jump and ConRoy Smith's 23.00 time in the 200-meter dash.
Competing unattached, Liberty's Kolby Shepherd won the men's pole vault title for the fourth year in a row at the Liberty Quad. The senior's winning height of 16-8.75 tied his own meet record.
A handful of Flames and Lady Flames will be in action Saturday, at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., and the Flotrack Husky Invitational in Seattle, Wash.
However, most Liberty athletes will not compete again until Feb. 24, when the Big South Indoor Track & Field Championships get underway in Clemson, S.C. Both the Liberty men's and women's teams enter the meet as defending conference champions.
