5 Liberty Student-Athletes Participate in Big South Leadership Conference

Big South Video Recap
Five Liberty student-athletes recently participated in the Big South Conference's 11th annual Student-Athlete Leadership Conference, held July 7-9 in Black Mountain, N.C.

Diego Castano (men's tennis), Jessica Cicerchia (softball), Evangeline Crist (women's tennis), Jeff Jacobs (men's track and field) and Morgan Weigner (swimming and diving) represented Liberty at the three-day conference.

(L-R) Jessica Cicerchia, Jeff Jacobs, Morgan Weigner, Diego Castano and Evangeline Crist represented Liberty at the 2017 Big South Student-Athlete Leadership Conference.

Forty Big South student-athletes participated in the conference, as this year marked the first time that every Big South institution and every sport was represented at the event.

"The leadership conference was a great opportunity to really gain wisdom and advice from people who are providing us opportunities to grow as athletes and become well-rounded people, as well as creating meaningful friendships with athletes from other schools," Weigner said. "It truly made me so grateful to be a Flame and motivated me to be a good steward of the blessings we have at Liberty and the chance we are given to better ourselves and the teams we represent."

Musco Sports Lighting served as the sponsor of the event, with Musco's staff members among those presenting. Big South Commissioner Kyle Kallander provided a Big South Conference update at the beginning of the leadership conference, and various special guests spoke at the conference throughout the weekend.
Participants had the chance to learn alongside student-athletes from other schools in the conference through leadership discussions and team-building activities.

"The leadership conference was an incredible opportunity to connect with other athletes in the conference without the wall of competition between us. It gave us the chance to build connections with people we normally would not be able to connect with," Jacobs stated. "I loved watching the speakers walk a group of 60 athletes through Biblical truth and wisdom without using the Bible specifically. I personally took away a lot of great ideas and tools to turn myself and my team into better leaders on campus and on the track. The Big South did an incredible job running the retreat, and all of the athletes involved were amazing people."

Representatives from Growing Leaders, a leadership training and development company, also shared their knowledge with the student-athletes.

Timothy Alexander also spoke to the student-athletes. Alexander, who was recruited to play football at UAB, was involved in a car accident in October of 2006 that left him paralyzed.

Alexander used the accident as motivation to help bring the UAB football program, as well as bowling and rifle at the school. In July of 2016, Alexander stood up unassisted for the first time in 10 years.