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HEAD COACH BRANT TOLSMA

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Brant TOLSMAHead Coach22nd Year at LibertyNewark College of Engineering, ‘71

Entering his 22nd year at Liberty,Brant Tolsma is the head coach of themen’s and women’s cross country andtrack and field teams. He was broughtto Liberty in 1986 by former Libertytrack and field coach, Jake Matthes, toserve as the head men’s track and fieldcoach. By 1991, Tolsma assumed thecoaching positions he still holds today.

Under Tolsma’s guidance, theLiberty program has enjoyed consider-able success. The cross country andtrack and field teams have won 67 con-ference titles since his arrival on cam-pus, including five Big South champi-onships and an IC4A outdoor crownduring the 2006-07 academic year.

Tolsma has won numerous BigSouth Coach of the Year honors andtwice was named the NCAA DistrictCoach of the Year. His athletes haveearned 30 All-America honors since theprogram moved to the NCAA Division Ilevel in 1989.

Tolsma’s coaching career began atCampbell University in Buies Creek,N.C. He served as the head crosscountry and track and field coach atthat institution for seven years. Duringhis time as a collegiate head coach, 20

of his athletes have represented the USA in internationalcompetitions.

Newark College of Engineering,since renamed New Jersey Institute ofTechnology, was where Tolsma com-pleted his undergraduate work withsumma cum laude distinction in 1971.He went on to earn a master’s degreein hydraulic engineering from theUniversity of Michigan and a Ph.D. inthe biomechanics of sport from IndianaUniversity. Tolsma’s doctoral disserta-tion was entitled Leg Dynamics ofMaximum Speed Sprinting.

Tolsma has published several arti-cles about track and field training andreleased a book, The SurrenderedChristian Athlete, which expounds therole of the Christian faith in athletics.He has also designed several athletictraining devices.

When he can find time, Tolsma stillactively trains and competes in trackand field. He won his age group in theMasters National Decathlon Champ-ionship in 1993 and in 2003. He placedsecond at the World Veterans Gamesdecathlon in 1995 and at the 2002World Double-Decathlon Champion-ship in Finland.

Tolsma twice held the world recordfor men over 50 in the double-decathlon, a two-day, 20-event compe-tition which includes all of the track andfield disciplines. He is the current worldrecord holder in the age 55-59 doubledecathlon, a record he set while win-ning his age group at the WorldChampionship in October 2005. ThisOctober, Tolsma aims to participate in aone-day double-decathlon at theMatthes-Hopkins Track Complex, aim-ing to break his age group’s worldrecord for the one-day competition.

Currently serving as president ofthe International Association of UltraMulti-events, Tolsma has raced nearlyevery competitive distance from 50meters to 50 miles. The latter he did tocelebrate reaching age 50.

Tolsma enjoys a number of sportsand fitness activities, especially water-skiiing and springboard diving. Nancy,his wife of 32 years, is the mother of hissix children, Michelle (29), who is mar-ried to former Liberty tennis playerMatthew Schley, Rachel (26), Brenda(24), married to Liberty track standoutClendon Henderson, Regina (23), Joey(22) and Tami (18). Tolsma has twograndsons, Jacob (5) and Brandon (2).

The Tolsma Family

ASSISTANT COACHES/McDOUGAL’S RECORDS

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2007 CROSS COUNTRY

Greg JIMMERSONAssistant CoachSecond Year at LibertyStanford, ‘98

Jimmerson enters his second sea-son as a part of the Flames’ crosscountry and track and field coachingstaff after a successful first year ofcoaching Liberty’s distance runners.

Under Jimmerson’s direction, JoshMcDougal won five All-America honors,broke the 4:00 mile and became thefifth-fastest collegiate performer of all-time at 5,000 meters. In addition, anumber of Lady Flames, includingCarol Jefferson, Piper Newby andAshley Osborne, enjoyed significantbreakthroughs in cross country and onthe track. A total of six Liberty mid-dis-tance and distance runners qualifiedfor the NCAA East RegionalChampion-ships.

Jimmerson came to the Flamesafter coaching at Northwestern Univer-sity for a season, in 2005-06.

A Rapid City, S.D., native, Jimmer-son enjoyed a standout career atStanford University. In 1996, he led theCardinal cross country team to the first

NCAA title in program history, finishingas the top American runner with afourth-place showing. He was awardedthe Stanford Athletic Department’s“Most Competitive Athlete” title.

While at Stanford, Jimmersongained some international racing expe-rience. He competed in the 1994 WorldJunior Cross Country Championships.He won Junior National titles in the5,000 meters and the 10,000 meters in1995.

After graduating from Stanfordwith a degree in product design in1998, Jimmerson trained for six yearswith the Nike Farm Team in Palo, Alto,Calif. He placed 11th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 2000 U.S.Olympic Trials. In 2001 and 2002,Jimmerson represented the UnitedStates at the World Cross CountryChampionships, running the 12K dis-tance. In the 2001 event, he helped theAmerican team win the bronze medal.

Jimmerson also competed at the 2004Olympic Trials, running both themarathon and the 10,000 meters. Heplaced 12th in the 10,000-meter finals.Jimmerson owns personal bests of8:31 (3,000-meter steeplechase),13:38 (5K), 28:40 (10K) and 2:16:27(marathon).

Jimmerson worked for five yearsas a mechanical engineer in the laserindustry after graduating from Stanford.He joined Athletes in Action as a full-time campus minister at Stanford in2003. The following year, he foundedthe ALTITUDE Project in MammothLakes, Calif. The high-altitude runningcamp exists to develop collegiate dis-tance runners to excel in competitiverunning and Christian living.

Jimmerson and his wife, the for-mer Melanie Chan, live in theLynchburg area. The couple was mar-ried in July 2007.

Josh McDougal’s Course Records

Date Time Record Previous Record Holder

9/25/04 23:43 Paul Short 8K at Lehigh Todd Snyder (23:44-1998)10/2/04 24:00 Great American 8K at Raleigh, N.C. Will Christian (25:55-2003)10/29/04 23:49 Winthrop 8K Alan Webb (24:14-2002)11/13/04 30:06 East Carolina 10K New course layout9/17/05 24:27 VMI 8K New course9/24/05 23:24 Stanford 8K Meb Keflezighi (23:45-1996)10/15/05 23:12 Pre-Nationals 8K at Indiana State Josh Rohatinsky (23:30-2005)10/29/05 24:00 VMI 8K Josh McDougal (24:27-2005)11/12/05 29:40 East Carolina 10K Josh McDougal (30:06-2004)9/9/06 24:14 Lou Onesty 8K at Virginia David Kemboi (24:21-2005)9/30/06 23:16 Greater Louisville Classic 8K Wesley Korir (23:46-2005)

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ASSISTANT COACHES/LIBERTY CROSS COUNTRY

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Heather ZEALANDAssistant CoachSixth Year at LibertyLiberty, ‘02

Heather Zealand is in her sixthyear on Liberty’s cross country andtrack and field coaching staff. Thenative of Warrenton, Va., joined thestaff after becoming the most prolificcross country and track and field ath-lete in program history. In addition toaiding the team’s distance corps,Zealand coordinates team travel andother budget-related issues.

2002 was Zealand’s finest year asa runner. She became Liberty’s firstNCAA Division I national champion,capturing the national title in the mile atthe indoor track and field championshipmeet. Her time of 4:38.52 set Libertyand Big South Conference records.Zealand was also the first Liberty ath-lete to win an ECAC title, winning themile at that event.

In the track and field season thatyear, Zealand was undefeated in the800 meters, the 1500 meters and themile until finishing as the national run-ner-up in the 1,500 at the NCAA

Division I Outdoor Track and FieldChampionships. Along the way,Zealand became the first collegiatewinner of the Penn Relays OlympicDevelopment mile since Vicki Huber in1987.

The year brought numerous acco-lades, including Big South Women’sAthlete of the Year, Big South Trackand Field Athlete of the Year and First-Team Verizon Academic All-American.Zealand won the 2001-02 RockRoyer/Mack Rivera Award (Liberty’shighest athletic honor). She was hon-ored by the United States TrackCoaches Association as the 2002Division I Track and Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Zealand represent-ed Virginia for the 2002 Woman of theYear Award.

After graduating from Liberty witha bachelor’s degree in Teaching Eng-lish as a Second Language in 2002,Zealand began to compete profession-ally for Adidas. She traveled to

the 2003 World Cross CountryChampionships, where she was thesecond American to finish. She placedfourth behind Regina Jacobs’ worldrecord in the indoor 1,500 meters andran a 4:29 road mile in Austin, Texas.

In 2004, Zealand made the finalsof the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 1,500meters. She ran a 4:10.37 in the pre-lims at the event.

Zealand is married to formerFlames runner Josh Zealand and thecouple has a daughter, Alyssa, who willturn one in September.

Zealand hopes to return to com-petitive running this year.

This is Liberty Cross Country