Six current and former Flames set for Olympic Trials, national championships

Four current Liberty track & field athletes and two former Flames will compete in their nations’ Olympic Trials and national championships, spanning Thursday through Sunday.

The current Flames in action include Paola Bueno (Mexico women’s hammer), Indea Cartwright (Bahamas women’s 100 meter hurdles), Omari Lewis (Trinidad and Tobago men’s 100) and Revell Webster (Trinidad and Tobago men’s 100).

Liberty’s alumni who will be competing include Brandon Letts (Canada men’s 100) and Alejandro Perlaza Zapata (Colombia men’s 400, men’s 4 x 400 and mixed 4 x 400).

At stake will be qualifying berths into the Summer Olympics in Paris, France. Track & field events are slated for Aug. 1-11 at Stade de France.

Reese Webster, who will not be in action this week, has already helped Trinidad and Tobago’s women’s 4 x 100 relay squad punch its ticket to Paris, thanks to their performance at the World Athletics Relays on May 5.

Lewis’ Trinidad and Tobago men’s 4 x 100 relay team is also currently in the mix for a trip to Paris via an at-large berth.

Canada Bell Track & Field Trials

June 26-30 (Montreal, Quebec)

Liberty Entrant

Brandon Letts (Class of 2022) – Men’s 100 (Semifinals + Final June 28)

Notable:

• • Part of the Flames’ All-America men’s 4 x 100 relay quartet as a senior in 2022, Letts will aim to qualify for the Canadian men’s 100 final for the second year in a row. He placed eighth in 2023.
  • Letts returned to Lynchburg for the Liberty Twilight Qualifier on May 1, placing third in the men’s 100 final.
  • The meet will be televised live on AthleticsCanada.tv, which is available via a RunnerSpace +PLUS account.

Bahamas Senior Nationals

June 26-28 (Nassau)

Liberty Entrant

Indea Cartwright – Women’s 100 Hurdles (Prelims June 27 and Final June 28)

Notable:

• • Cartwright broke the Liberty women’s 100 hurdles standard six times this season. Most recently, she clocked a wind-aided 13.11 seconds for fourth place in the CUSA final.
  • Cartwright also became the Lady Flames’ first 100 hurdler to race at the NCAA Division I East First Rounds meet in 14 years.

Mexico First Force National Athletics Championship

June 28-30 (Mexico City)

Liberty Entrant

Paola Bueno – Women’s Hammer (Final June 28)

Notable:

• • Bueno enters as the three-time defending Mexico women’s hammer champion.
  • The sophomore earned second team All-America honors with an 11th-place women’s hammer finish at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Her personal-best mark of 211 feet and 4 inches set a new program record.
  • Bueno is closing in on the Mexico women’s hammer record of 218-3, which has stood since 2009.

Colombian Athletics Championships

June 28-30 (Cali)

Liberty Entrant

Alejandro Perlaza Zapata (Class of 2019) – Men’s 400 (Prelims June 28 and Final June 29), Men’s 4 x 400 Relay (Final June 30) and Mixed 4 x 400 Relay (Final June 28)

Notable:

• • Perlaza Zapata is hoping to qualify for his third consecutive Summer Olympics. He represented Colombia in Rio de Janeiro (2016 – men’s 4 x 400 relay) and Tokyo (2021 – men’s 400 and 4 x 400 relay).
  • He competed on Colombia’s mixed 4 x 400 relay squad at the World Athletics Relays in May, but they were unable to qualify for the Olympics.
  • Perlaza Zapata was a two-time All-American in the men’s 400 during his two years as a Flame (2018 and 2019).

NGC-NAAATT Senior Championships

June 28-30 (Port of Spain)

Liberty Entrants

Omari Lewis – Men’s 100 (Semifinals + Final June 29)

Revell Webster – Men’s 100 (Prelims June 28 and Semifinals + Final June 29)

Notable:

• • In addition to his possibility with the 4 x 100 relay squad, Lewis has a chance to qualify for the Olympics individually in the men’s 100. He clocked a wind-aided 9.88 to win the CUSA title, good for fastest in the world at the time. Lewis also has wind-legal clockings of 10.08 (Virginia Grand Prix) and 10.10 (NACAC New Life Invitational in the Bahamas on June 16) to his credit this season. The automatic Olympic standard is a wind-legal 10.00.
  • Lewis has reached the Trinidad and Tobago men’s 100 final each of the past two seasons, placing sixth in 2022 and fourth a year ago.
  • Like Lewis, Webster will aim for his third straight appearance in the Trinidad and Tobago men’s 100 final. He came in seventh in 2022 and third in 2023.
  • Webster’s freshman year at Liberty saw him finish sixth in both the men’s 60 and 200 at the CUSA Indoor Track & Field Championships. He also lowered his lifetime best to 10.26 (wind-aided) in the 100 during the CUSA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
  • Lewis and Webster represented Trinidad and Tobago in the men’s 4 x 100 relay at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

Combined Competition Schedule (All times listed are Eastern)

Thursday, June 27

8:10 p.m. – Bahamas Women’s 100 Hurdles Prelims (Indea Cartwright)

Friday, June 28

10:30 a.m. – Colombia Mixed 4 x 400 Final (Alejandro Perlaza Zapata)

3:45 p.m. – Mexico Women’s Hammer (Paola Bueno)

5 p.m. – Trinidad and Tobago Men’s 100 Prelims (Revell Webster)

6:20 p.m. – Colombia Men’s 400 Semifinals (Alejandro Perlaza Zapata)

6:45 p.m. – Canada Men’s 100 Semifinals (Brandon Letts)

6:55 p.m. – Bahamas Women’s 100 Hurdles Final (Indea Cartwright)

8:30 p.m. – Canada Men’s 100 Final (Brandon Letts)

Saturday, June 29

10:20 a.m. – Colombia Men’s 400 Final (Alejandro Perlaza Zapata)

5:15 p.m. – Trinidad and Tobago Men’s 100 Semifinals (Omari Lewis and Revell Webster)

8 p.m. – Trinidad and Tobago Men’s 100 Final (Omari Lewis and Revell Webster)

Sunday, June 30

12:05 p.m. – Colombia Men’s 4 x 400 Final (Alejandro Perlaza Zapata)