Liberty began the 2026 Conference USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a strong showing on May 15, leading the men’s team standings and tying for first place in the women’s competition at Dean A. Hayes Track & Soccer Stadium in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
The opening day saw Liberty athletes earn All-Conference USA honors in five of seven event finals. Freshman Tahj Brown set a new Liberty freshman record in the men’s 110-meter hurdles with a time of 13.75 seconds, which was also the fastest time of the day by a quarter second and moved him to No. 2 all-time in program history for that event.
Through four out of twenty-one men’s events, Liberty held a fourteen-point lead over defending champion Kennesaw State, scoring fifty-four points to Kennesaw State’s forty. On the women’s side, Liberty shared first place with Kennesaw State at twenty points each after three scored events; Florida International University and Sam Houston were just one point behind.
Highlights from men’s events included Reagan Wise finishing second in pole vault (17-0.75), Todd Benhase taking third with a personal best (17-0.75), and Markus White placing second in long jump (25-8.25). In distance running, Andrew Schultz led four Flames who finished among the top seven in the men’s 10K.
For women’s events, Sophie Gonzalez earned her first all-conference medal by placing third in hammer throw (196-6), while Ellie Stine finished fourth on her birthday with a personal best (180-7). Isabela Ross placed third in the women’s 10K (36:06.70), contributing valuable points alongside teammate Katie Sigerud who debuted sixth.
Looking ahead, Friday’s schedule will start with decathlon hurdles at 10 a.m., followed by live coverage on ESPN+ beginning at 7:15 p.m., including men’s running preliminaries.
