Freshman hurdlers Alivia Rivera-Norman and Tahj Brown delivered standout performances at the Liberty Twilight Qualifier held Wednesday, May 6. Both athletes won their respective sprint hurdles races, setting new Liberty freshman records in the process. The Flames achieved a total of ten first-place finishes during an eventful Senior Day that also saw seniors Mahogany Mobley and Katrina Schlenker claim victories in the women’s 200 meters and women’s 1,500 meters.
The meet was marked by challenging weather conditions, with strong winds and intermittent rain impacting several events. As a result, the pole vault competition was moved indoors to the Liberty Indoor Track Complex. Despite these conditions, Rivera-Norman ran a winning time of 13.33 seconds in the women’s 100-meter hurdles—a performance that qualified her for the NCAA Division I East First Rounds meet and placed her second on Liberty’s all-time list for this event.
Brown continued his impressive season by clocking a time of 13.78 seconds in the men’s 110-meter hurdles final, surpassing his own previous freshman record set at last month’s Penn Relays. Other notable victories for Liberty included Raini Mayo in the women’s steeplechase, Maddy Merritt in the women’s 400 meters, Iyana Sherard in the women’s 100 meters, Eva Whiteman in high jump, Nathan Haas in men’s javelin, and Markus White who defended his title in men’s long jump.
Several facility records were broken during the day: Hampton University’s women’s relay team set a new mark of 45.17 seconds in the women’s 4×100 relay; Addilae Watts established a new javelin record with a throw of 175 feet nine inches; and unattached athlete Chris Van Niekerk threw over sixty-four feet ten inches to break the men’s shot put record.
The meet also served as recognition for Liberty’s senior class while highlighting rising talent among freshmen competitors. The next major competition for both teams will be at Dean A. Hayes Track and Soccer Stadium from May 14-16 when they compete at the Conference USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
