Lynchburg, Va. – The University of Lynchburg men's and women's cross country teams will travel across town to Liberty University on Friday, Aug. 29 to compete in the Liberty Challenge.

The three-team meet features Liberty, Lynchburg and Radford, though the Hornets anticipate using the competition as a preparatory workout for the remainder of the regular season.

Friday's racing begins with the women's 4k at 6:30 p.m., followed by the men's 6k at 7:15 p.m. Admission is free to the public, and the event is held at the Liberty cross country course behind the indoor track facility.

This season opener also marks the first competition for Director of Cross Country Mario Wilson and Assistant Cross Country Coach Sam Llaneza. 

Coach Wilson arrives in the Hill City following over two decades of Division I coaching at Clemson, New Mexico, Bucknell, St. Francis (PA) and Virginia. Throughout his tenures, he lifted 24 conference championship trophies and coached the 2019 NCAA indoor triple jump champion Jordan Scott at UVA. 

Llaneza begins his coaching tenure following five years as an athlete at Lynchburg. The Bristow native capped his Hornets distance career last outdoor track season, tallying his 10th All-American honor and tying James Goss for the most in Lynchburg history.

Lynchburg boasts 16 newcomers for the 2025 cross country season: 13 men and three women. Both squads qualified for the NCAA Championships in each of the past four seasons, and despite losing All-American talent, the Hornets look poised to retain success as a collective.

"With our track staff and recruits we brought in, we should be a national-level team on the track, so I want to make sure we can play our part and also be a national-level team on the cross country course," said Llaneza.

For results from the Liberty Challenge, click here.

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--LYN--