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Maybe the most historically successful programs we have at Liberty and not much said about them, but of course they are entering a new era with the retirement of Coach Tolsma, and even though there seemed to be a huge consensus that Lance Bingham is the perfect replacement, I'm sure there were doubts as to whether the program can maintain it's high level or even reach new heights. A bit of a hiccough with the ladies losing by a slim margin to KSU in the ASUN indoors while the men continued their dominance. Now that outdoor season is here, there have been some impressive performances, including school records in some marquee events.
Diamante Griffin 100 meters 10.19
Kyle Mitchell Shot Put 64'3"
Ryan Drew 1500 meters 3:43.05
Naomi Mojica Women's Shot Put 53'0.75"
Today my best buddy checked in about our fishing trip to the coast next week. But all he wanted to talk about was Ryan Drew record. His good friends son. He was going contact his HS coach in VB (Cox) to make sure he saw it. Congratulations to all!!!!
With 18 out of 21 events scored in both the men's and women's ASUN championships, the Flames hold leads of 71 points (M) and 37 points (W). KSU is second in both cases.
FR Abby Pantlitz scored the 100/200 meter double by a combined total of 4/100 of a second, the same KSU sprinter was second in both.
Coach Tolsman was a master of moving his athletes around to different events to maximize points at conference championship time and we got a glimpse today of how Bingham has learned from the master. Ryan Drew, who set the school record for the 1500 earlier this year, did not run in that event. Lipscomb has 2 runners who are head and shoulders above the rest of the conference, and the best he would have done is 3rd. Instead, he ran him in the 5000, a distance I am not sure he had run all year. He won.
olldflame wrote: ↑May 15th, 2021, 7:50 pm
Coach Tolsman was a master of moving his athletes around to different events to maximize points at conference championship time and we got a glimpse today of how Bingham has learned from the master. Ryan Drew, who set the school record for the 1500 earlier this year, did not run in that event. Lipscomb has 2 runners who are head and shoulders above the rest of the conference, and the best he would have done is 3rd. Instead, he ran him in the 5000, a distance I am not sure he had run all year. He won.
Well, sort of. Ryan is actually better at the 5. He broke the ASUN 5k record earlier this year with a 13:53. And I wouldn't exactly say Streich is head and shoulders above everyone else. 1-2 seconds is not much in a 4 min race. Liberty beat Lipscomb by over 150 points, so getting 2nd or 3rd in the 15 for 8 or 6 points vs winning the 5 for 10 points was probably not the deciding factor. Most likely the 5 fit into the long term training plan vs the 15. Ryan is running the 5 at NCAA, not the 15.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Tolsma and Lance don't try to maximize points. But many times there are other factors at play.
NCAA National Champions
Heather (Sagan) Zealand - 2002
Josh McDougal - 2007
Sam Chelanga - 2009, 2010, 2011
I remember one year we were absolutely loaded with decathletes; at least the best 3 in the conference. Might have been 4. In the BSC championships Tolsma had our top guy compete in several individual events instead, because he knew that his times/distances/heights would earn a boatload of points. They did. He was named outstanding athlete of the meet, and we still got a bunch of points in the decathlon.
The completion of the NCAA T&F finals ends the Spring season for Liberty athletics. We had 2 all- Americans, with Felix Kandie finishing 9th in the steeplechase and Kyle Mitchell 14th in the shot put.