Athletic program updates

Liberty athletes, coaches garner national attention

Though most students may have been on break the last five weeks, Flames athletics did not enjoy the same rest. In addition to all the on-field and court accomplishments of the last month, Liberty’s athletes excelled off the field as well. Below are just a few highlights of the Christmas break.

Football

Senior tight end Justin Gunn was selected to perform in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Senior Scout Bowl Dec. 15 in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Gunn finished the 2012 season with 18 catches for 264 yards and three touchdowns.
Quarterback Josh Woodrum was a finalist for the Jerry Rice Award given annually to the top freshman in the FCS, finishing 13th in the voting.

Volleyball

The university announced Dec. 20 that the Lady Flames volleyball team set a fundraising record at their annual Volleyball-a-Thon, Dec 5. The event, a 43-team all-night tournament hosted by Liberty’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and the Academic Affairs for Athletics Office, raised more than $3,000 for Lynchburg City schools and will help send kids to summer camps.

Field Hockey

Midfielder Natalie Barr and Head Coach Jodi Murphy were featured in the December issue of Sports Spectrum magazine. Entitled “Bringing Liberty to Uganda,” Brett Honeycutt’s story is about how Barr and her coach were brought together by their shared love for the people of the Central African nation. The story is available to read in part at sportsspectrum.com/articles/2012/12/17/bringing-liberty-to-uganda/.

Baseball

Perfect Game USA writer Kendall Rogers tabbed Head Coach Jim Toman as one of the top 10 baseball coaches on the rise in a Dec. 16 article. Citing a three-year record of 118-62 between 2010-2012, Rogers says that it is Toman’s consistency that is so impressive. Others who made the list include Stanford University’s Casey Dunn, Duke University’s Chris Pollard and Indiana State University’s Rick Heller.