James Holloway/WVU Tech

Golden Bears build momentum at Liberty Open

1/23/2026 8:51:00 PM

Women's and Men's Indoor Track & Field

LYNCHBURG, Va. — WVU Tech track and field turned in a productive showing Friday at the Liberty Open, highlighted by two school records, multiple personal bests and strong relay performances against a deep field of competition.

Freshman Isaac Agee continued his standout indoor season by setting a new WVU Tech school record in the men's 60-meter dash, clocking 7.30 to lead the Golden Bears in the sprints. Fellow freshman Ralph Aaron Etaba Ateba added another program record in the men's 400 meters, posting a 52.33 to mark the fastest indoor time in school history.

The men's distance group delivered another strong outing in the relays, as the 4x400-meter relay of Chucky Jordan, Carlos Parra Soto, Crutcher Hutchison and Tommy Wikel finished in 3:45.66, earning an NAIA "A" standard and ranking inside the national top 90 at the time of the meet. The women's 4x400-meter relay also recorded an NAIA "A" mark, running 4:40.50 behind the quartet of Jadyn Farmer, Hailey Ervin, Nevaeh Wooding and Rebecca H. Lorincz.

In individual events, Etaba Ateba added a personal best in the 400 meters, while Parra Soto posted a PR in the 60-meter dash. Tommy Wikel led the middle-distance group with a 2:11.13 in the 800 meters, while Christian Saffouri recorded a college-best 2:57.67 in the 1,000 meters.

The distance squad continued to stack personal bests in the longer races. Jan Fasius Ponsa ran a PR of 9:34.52 in the men's 3,000 meters, while Evan McElwayne followed with a personal-best 9:41.70. On the women's side, Lexie Wikel delivered a strong performance in the 3,000 meters, crossing in 11:54.86 for a PR.

In the field events, Agee added a solid mark of 6.58 meters (21-07.25) in the long jump. Abigail Holley led the women's throws with a 6:63 meters (21-09.00) effort in both the shot put and weight throw.

The Liberty Open marked another step forward for a young WVU Tech roster, as the Golden Bears continued to stack experience, personal bests and record-setting performances early in the indoor season.