Coach Bingham (Pole Vault + Multi's)

This man loves to train champions for Christ.

While serving as Liberty's associate head coach during the 2004-16 seasons, Bingham helped guide Liberty men's and women's track & field teams to a combined 33 conference titles. Bingham has been a part of the Liberty coaching staff for all three IC4A championship seasons (1996, 2007 & 2008) in program history.

In 2009-10, Bingham helped Liberty become only the ninth school in NCAA Division I history to complete a conference "Double Triple." The Flames captured Big South titles in men's cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field, in addition to women's cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field.

During his last time at Liberty, Bingham's coaching responsibilities included the hurdles, pole vault and multi events. During eight of his 12 seasons, Bingham helped Liberty send at least one athlete to the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

In 2012, Bingham coached Kolby Shepherd (pole vault) to a tie for fifth place and All-America honors at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Shepherd arrived at Liberty with just a 14-0 high school pole vault personal record.

Off the track, Bingham accompanied Liberty student-athletes on a number of foreign missions trips. During the summers of 2009, 2012 and 2015, he and his wife, Kelly, were part of the Liberty track & field group which traveled to Kenya.

Three of Bingham's charges (Jon Hart, Clendon Henderson and Brandon Hoskins) qualified for the 2008 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Additionally, Henderson took part in the U.S. Olympic Trials that year.

As a result, Bingham was duly recognized as the 2008 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Southeast Regional Men's Assistant Coach of the Year.

Coach Venable (Jumps and Hurdles)

Shawn Venable joined the Liberty track & field staff as an assistant coach for jumps and hurdles in the fall of 2016, after spending the previous four seasons at Oral Roberts. In January 2018, he added the title of recruiting coordinator.

In 2020, Jovaine Atkinson and Makenzy Mizera headlined Venable's training group. Atkinson won the ASUN men's 60 hurdles title and ranked No. 18 nationally in the event. Mizera was the ASUN women's long jump champion during a season where she took down program records in both the long jump (19-4.75) and triple jump (41-10.75).

Venable also the rapid development of a trio of men's freshmen. Erick Johnson added a foot to his long jump personal best to win the ASUN title at 23-8.75. Felix Lawrence dropped his 60 hurdles time from 8.21 to 7.95 during the season. Meanwhile, high jump novice Quinten Clay reached 6-8.75.

During 2018, Venable coached Jovaine Atkinson to a fourth-place finish in the NCAA men's 60 hurdles final and a record-breaking time of 7.64. He also helped Darrel Jones close out his collegiate career with a trip to the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the men's triple jump. Kimone Green and Branson Rolle swept the Big South women's and men's 400 hurdles title and each qualified for the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round meet, with Rolle doing so as a true freshman.

Venable enjoyed immediate success at Liberty, as his athletes won six Big South event titles in 2017 and broke six different school records. These included the men's 60 hurdles (Jovaine Atkinson), men's 110 hurdles (Atkinson), men's indoor shuttle hurdles relay, men's indoor triple jump (Darrel Jones), women's indoor triple jump (Janae Jones) and women's 400 hurdles (Mary Witmer).

Coach Luke Johnson (Throws)

Luke Johnson joined the Liberty staff as an assistant track & field coach in time for the 2022-23 season, coaching the Flames’ throwers.

The Liberty throws crew continued to flourish under Johnson’s direction in 2024, accounting for three of the team’s six qualifiers to the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships and 12 of the Flames’ 22 NCAA Division I East First Rounds competitors. Warren Barrett became an indoor men’s shot put All-American for the second year in a row, while Paola Bueno captured her first All-America certificate in the women’s hammer. Throwers combined to win six CUSA event titles, helping Liberty sweep the indoor and outdoor conference crowns.

Johnson’s charges enjoyed a phenomenal year in 2023, headlined by Kevin Nedrick’s fifth-place finish in the NCAA men’s discus final with an ASUN all-time record mark of 203-2. Warren Barrett threw a program-record 64-1.25 to become the first Flames shot putter to qualify for the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships in 15 years. Liberty throwers won four ASUN titles and accounted for nine of the program’s 19 qualifiers to the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round meet.

Johnson spent the 2022 season as CSUN’s throws coach following four years (2018-21) coaching Emory University’s throwers. During his time in Atlanta, Johnson led 16 Eagles to University Athletic Association medalist honors. Johnson taught Emory women’s basketball player Laura Shekter to throw the shot put, and in two seasons, she posted a best of 45-7.75 and earned 2020 NCAA Division III indoor All-America honors. Johnson’s Emory throwers recorded five school records.

Johnson moved to Emory after spending the 2017 season as a volunteer throws coach at Georgia, working under assistant coach Don Babbitt. In addition, he served a stint at the highly regarded Hoffa Throws Academy where, under the direction of three-time Olympian Reese Hoffa, Johnson provided coaching to high school and middle school athletes in the discus and shot put. He also traveled to multiple high schools to put on day camps to help educate coaches and teach fundamentals of throwing.

Johnson competed for Minnesota from 2012-16. Named team captain by his teammates as a senior, he earned second team All-America honors with a 14th-place finish in the men’s shot put at the 2016 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championship. Johnson placed third in the shot put at the 2016 Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships with a personal-best mark of 64-1.25 and went on to compete in the 2016 USA Olympic Trials.

Johnson, whose discus personal best measured 185-4, was voted by the Gophers’ coaching staff as the inaugural recipient of the Roy Griak Award, symbolizing resilience and work ethic.

Coach Wendland (Distance)

Former Liberty standout Isaac Wendland returned the Flames as an assistant track & field/cross country coach in January 2019. In his role, he primarily works with the men's distance runners.

First-year Flame Ryan Drew swept the ASUN indoor men's mile and 3K titles, headlining the distance crew's abbreviated 2020 campaign.

During Wendland's first track & field season on the staff, he coached Felix Kandie (steeplechase) and Azaria Kirwa (10K) to All-America honors at the 2019 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Kandie lowered the program steeplechase record to 8:32.

Since graduating from Liberty in 2013, Wendland gained experience coaching high school runners in the Lynchburg area. For five seasons (2014-18), Wendland worked as an assistant coach for the Jefferson Forest boys' and girls' cross country teams.

Wendland's stellar senior track & field season at Liberty in 2013 took him all the way to the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the men's 1,500. That spring, he also won the IC4A men's 1,500 title and swept the Big South men's 800 and 1,500 crowns. Wendland was named to the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team for the second time in his career (also 2010).

Wendland ranks among Liberty's all-time top five performers for three different events, including the outdoor 1,500 (No. 3, 3:43.91), indoor 1,000 (No. 3, 2:24.74) and outdoor 800 (No. 5, 1:50.22). He was a seven-time All-Big South performer on the track during his career.