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Lady Flames repeat as CUSA Indoor Track & Field champions, Flames take second
March 2, 2025 : By Liberty Athletics
The Liberty Women’s Indoor Track & Field squad successfully defended its conference title on Saturday, the final day of the 2025 CUSA Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Brant Tolsma Indoor Track at the Liberty Indoor Track & Field Complex. Meanwhile, the Flames finished a close second to Kennesaw State in the final men’s standings, halting Liberty’s 27-year streak of capturing indoor track & field conference championships.
The Lady Flames finished with 145 points, holding off conference newcomer Kennesaw State by 28 tallies. Liberty has now claimed four straight indoor conference crowns overall, also including its 2022 and 2023 ASUN titles.
On the men’s side, Kennesaw State held off the Flames by 14.5 points (154-139.5) in the tightest men’s team finish at this meet since 2012. Prior to Saturday, Liberty owned the nation’s longest active streak of men’s indoor track & field conference titles at the Division I level. Beginning in 1998, the Flames won 21 Big South titles, five ASUN crowns and the 2024 CUSA championship in their inaugural year of conference membership.
Following the meet, Lance Bingham was voted CUSA Women’s Coach of the Year. But he quickly redirected the award to former WKU Head Coach Brent Chumbley, Bingham’s longtime friend who tragically passed away in January.
Allie Zealand took home the CUSA Women’s Freshman of the Meet trophy after pacing all freshmen with 19 points. She won the women’s mile, one of Liberty’s three first-place finishes on Saturday (also Adelyn Fairley in the women’s 3K and Gabriel Willis in the heptathlon). That brought Liberty’s meet total to six victories with Fairley (women’s 5K), Meredith Engle (pentathlon) and Kellen Kimes (men’s weight throw) taking top honors on Friday.
Reese Webster lowered her own women’s 200 program record to 23.11, a day after Omari Lewis (men’s 60 – 6.65) and Engle (pentathlon – 4,196) had also improved upon their Liberty records. Engle’s mark still ranks No. 12 nationally as of Saturday night, giving her a good shot to qualify for the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships in two weeks.
>> Read the complete report and follow the Liberty Track & Field team on LibertyFlames.com.
