10 Flames Named to CSC Academic All-District® Teams
Ten Liberty standouts have been named to the 2022-23 CSC Academic All-District® Men’s and Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country teams, as announced on Wednesday.
The Flames’ men’s honorees include Stuart Folkerts, Kyle Harkabus, John Hicks, Ethan Mylin and Ben Shughart. Meanwhile, Naomi Armstrong, Calli Doan, Meredith Engle, Taylen Langin and Noel Palmer represent Liberty on the women’s squad.
Doan and Palmer each garnered this award for the fourth time, while Engle and Hicks were included on the CSC Academic All-District® team for the second year in a row.
Academic All‐District® honorees advance to the 2022-23 CSC Academic All‐America® ballot. First‐, second‐ and third‐team Academic All‐America® honorees will be announced on June 28 (women’s team) and 29 (men’s team). Doan earned second team CSC Academic All-America® honors in 2022.
Stuart Folkerts (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) – The 2023 ASUN Men’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year for indoor track & field, Folkerts maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout both his undergraduate (psychology) and graduate (clinical mental health counseling) studies. Folkerts placed seventh in the ASUN men’s weight throw and ninth in the men’s hammer this year. He graduates ranked No. 10 in the men’s weight throw (58-3) in program history.
Kyle Harkabus (Senoia, Ga.) – Harkabus earned inclusion on the ASUN All-Academic Teams for men’s cross country and indoor track & field this season. The sport management major with a 3.68 GPA was an All-ASUN performer in all three sports in 2022-23. He placed 14th at the ASUN Cross Country Championships, third in the indoor mile and third in the outdoor 1,500.
John Hicks (Romney, W.Va.) – An exercise science major with a 3.78 GPA, Hicks was named to the ASUN All-Academic Team for men’s indoor and outdoor track & field for the second year in a row. Hicks placed third in the ASUN men’s weight throw competition and finished as the men’s hammer runner-up, pushing his career total of All-ASUN medals to seven. Hicks wrapped up his season at the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round meet for the third straight year, placing 14th in the men’s hammer.
Ethan Mylin (Lancaster, Pa.) – A mechanical engineering major who owns a 3.84 GPA, Mylin enjoyed a breakthrough sophomore season in the men’s javelin. He captured the ASUN men’s javelin title with a personal-best and meet-record mark of 215-2, punching his ticket to the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round meet for the first time. He also made his first appearance on an ASUN All-Academic Team during the outdoor campaign.
Ben Shughart (Shippensburg, Pa.) – Another Keystone State native who made major improvements in the javelin as a sophomore and earned ASUN All-Academic Team accolades, Shughart is an interdisciplinary studies major with a 4.0 GPA. The ASUN men’s javelin runner-up, Shughart boosted his personal-best from 167-10 as a freshman to 214-9 in 2023 to earn a trip to the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round meet.
Naomi Armstrong (Hartly, Del.) – Armstrong completed her master’s degree in exercise science with a 4.0 GPA after previously graduating with a 3.93 GPA in her bachelor’s degree studies in the same subject. She made her first ASUN All-Academic Team appearance for outdoor track & field this spring after earning her third consecutive ASUN All-Academic Team honor indoors. Armstrong helped Liberty finish second in the ASUN women’s distance medley relay, while finishing sixth in the indoor 800 and seventh in the outdoor 800.
Calli Doan (Apex, N.C.) – Doan, who is preparing to run the steeplechase at next week’s 2023 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships, has collected a considerable amount of hardware this year. She completed her master’s degree in human performance with a 4.0 GPA after previously posting a 3.99 undergraduate GPA as an exercise science major. Doan claimed the ASUN Women’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards for cross country and outdoor track & field, while making the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team following the cross country season. She was named both Most Valuable Female Performer and Women’s Most Outstanding Track Performer at the ASUN Indoor Track & Field Championships after racking up a meet-high 28 points. Doan captured four ASUN individual titles in 2022-23, including cross country, indoor 3K, indoor 5K and outdoor steeplechase. She also recorded four new program records (cross country 5K – 16:15.1, indoor mile – 4:36.52, indoor 3K – 9:24.67 and outdoor steeplechase – 9:57.15).
Meredith Engle (Dillsburg, Pa.) – Engle maintains a 4.0 GPA as a computer science major. She was voted the ASUN Women’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year indoors and made the ASUN All-Academic Team outdoors. She repeated as ASUN Women’s Most Outstanding Field Performer after scoring 17.5 points at the indoor conference championship. Engle successfully defended her ASUN pentathlon title and took third in the heptathlon. During the season, Engle climbed to No. 2 in program history for the pentathlon (3,973 points) and No. 5 for the heptathlon (5,205).
Taylen Langin (Meridian, Idaho) – Langin owns a 3.95 GPA as she pursues a master’s degree in human performance, a year after graduating with a 3.96 GPA as an exercise science major. She was voted to the ASUN All-Academic Team for both indoor and outdoor track & field for the third year in a row. Langin claimed her third consecutive ASUN outdoor women’s pole vault title after finishing second indoors. She vaulted an ASUN all-time record 13-9.25 at the Bryan Clay Invitational in April and closed her career with a 16th-place finish at the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round meet.
Noel Palmer (Forest, Va.) – Palmer kept a 4.0 GPA throughout her time at Liberty, including a bachelor’s degree in biology education and a master’s degree in education. She earned her eighth career ASUN All-Academic Team honor following an outdoor season which included a fifth-place finish in the ASUN women’s 10K final and a ninth-place showing in the 5K.
