Tristian Merchant
Tristian Merchant wasted no time in his debut for Liberty University, adding his name to school and conference top ten lists.
The former ACS superstar got an early start to the indoor track season, racing at the Sharon Colyear-Danville season opener in Boston, Massachusetts.
Merchant laced up his spikes for the first time this season after spending his freshman year at distance running powerhouse, Northern Arizona.
While he is joined by former teammate Liz Brower on the Flames squad, Merchant also follows the footsteps of fellow ACS track stars Tanner (Ealum) Hart and Michael Todd, who accounted for six school records during their reign at Liberty.
The records for Merchant’s events are lofty, but he has already begun chipping away at school history. On Boston University’s renowned indoor track, Merchant powered to a time of 14 minutes flat for the 5,000-meter distance.
The time was just three seconds outside his lifetime best of 13:57 — which sits at #7 on the Alaska all-time list — though quick enough to land him fourth in program history and second all-time in the ASUN conference (Liberty joined in 2018).
Kaleb Beloy
After a strong cross country season, Kaleb Beloy put his fitness to the test at the Air Force Holiday Collegiate Open in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Beloy, a South High grad who currently competes for CSU-Pueblo, set a personal best of 4:28 in the mile to place third, at an astounding 7000 feet elevation.
Also competing for the ThunderWolves was Fairbanks’ Terrel Johnson who opened with three events: two field and one relay.
The West Valley alumnus placed fourth in the high jump (6 feet, 4.75 inches), sixth in the long jump (23 feet, 0.75 inches), and ran a leg on the winning 4×440-yard relay — an event that is seldom run nowadays.
Terrel Johnson
Within the last year, Johnson has transformed his hurdling and jumping talent into a multi-event athlete. The grueling seven and ten-event disciplines have challenged the junior, switching from jumps and sprints only this spring. He placed fifth in the indoor heptathlon and third in the decathlon at the RMAC Championships last season.
Speaking of jumps, Anchorage’s Jocelyn Chanonto also began her season leaping into the sand pit, competing at the same meet as Johnson and Beloy.
The former Service High athlete and current Colorado State sophomore long jumped 17 feet, 8 inches — a quarter inch shy of her personal best. Chanonto also added a 300-meter race to her repertoire, stopping the clock at 43.92 seconds.
Other Alaskans who began their indoor track and field seasons:
- Delta Junction’s Hailey Williams raced the 60-meter dash at the Winston-Salem College Kickoff. The Duke junior ran 7.75 seconds in the finals to finish sixth.
- Logan Mathieu, formerly of Chugiak High, was victorious in the 60-meter hurdles clocking 8.20 seconds to take the win. The North Dakota State sophomore also raced the 200 meters in 22.73 seconds.
- Anchorage’s Lauren Parsons began her collegiate track and field career for Minnesota-Morris, after playing softball for the Cougars during her first year. The South High grad competed in the shot put (24 feet, 6.25 inches) and the weight throw (22 feet, 11.75 inches) at the Chuck Peterson Open.
- Soldotna’s Cody Nye, also of Minnesota-Morris, opened his senior season in the throwing events. He achieved a fourth-place showing in the shot put (48 feet, 6.75 feet) and placed tenth in the weight throw (45 feet, 7 inches).