Liberty University athletes broke both men’s and women’s javelin records during the opening day of the 2026 outdoor track and field season at the Virginia Opener in Charlottesville on March 21.
The event saw Isabella Frattura surpass her teammate Addilae Watts’ previous women’s javelin record with a throw of 163-4, achieved on her final attempt. This performance also broke the Liberty freshman mark previously held by Kali Grayson. On the men’s side, Ben Shughart returned to competition after missing the entire previous season due to injury and set a new program record with a throw of 253-11, exceeding Steve Feister’s decade-old standard. Shughart’s result currently ranks him first in both the NCAA and United States for this season, as well as twentieth in the world.
Freshmen Mackenzie Boggess (women’s triple jump) and Alivia Rivera-Norman (women’s 400 hurdles) also claimed event victories. Newcomers Sophie Gonzalez (women’s hammer) and Reagan Wise (men’s pole vault) achieved marks that unofficially qualify them for the NCAA Division I East First Rounds meet scheduled for late May in Lexington, Kentucky.
In other results, Wise became only the sixth Liberty athlete to clear 17 feet in pole vault history, while Christian Hicks opened his redshirt senior year with runner-up finishes in both shot put and discus. The women’s team placed athletes on the podium across all jumping events held Saturday, including high jump, pole vault, long jump, and triple jump.
Looking ahead, Liberty distance runners are set to compete at the Raleigh Relays on March 26 and 27 at North Carolina State University. The rest of the team will participate in the Dr. Jack M. Toms Alumni Invitational at University of Lynchburg later that week.
