4×1 Breaks School Record, Qualifies for Nationals at Drake Relays
Des Moines–The sprint relay squad posted the fastest time in school history while also locking down a bid to nationals as the William Penn men’s track and field team competed at two separate meets on Friday and Saturday.
Most of the squad went to the Grand View Viking Classic on Friday, but a select few individuals earned the right to compete in the prestigious Drake Relays on Friday and Saturday.
Drake
Usir McClellan (Fr., St. Petersburg, Fla., Information Technology), Youssef Hamed (Jr., Al Wakrah, Qatar, Business Management), Keena Taylor (Fr., St. Petersburg, Fla., Business Management), and Travaughn Robbins-Hall (So., Lauderhill, Fla., Software Engineering) were pushed by a strong field, finishing fifth in the 4×100-meter relay competition with a time of 40.92 seconds.
The crew not only hit the NAIA’s provisional standard, but also set a new program mark, breaking the old time of 40.96 seconds from 2019.
Xzavion West (Sr., Guthrie, Ky., Psychology) and Koby Higginbotham (Fr., Knoxville, Iowa, Exercise Science) both also placed in the top half of their respective battles. West was ninth in the hammer throw at 198-1, and Higginbotham was 12th in the 110-meter hurdles in 14.12 seconds.
Grand View
Hamed and West also battled at another venue in Iowa’s capital city, and both athletes placed first. Hamed took gold in the 100 in 10.50 seconds, while West won the shot put at 52-0.5. West was sixth in the discus (139-2) as well.
Distance runners Andrew Miller (Jr., Le Claire, Iowa, Exercise Science) and Carson Springer (Jr., Grimes, Iowa, Business Management) also joined the winner’s circle. Miller hit the line first in the 1,500-meter run in 4:03.06, while Springer did so in the 5,000-meter run in 15:50.85.
Silvers went to Gavin Huff (Jr., Mascoutah, Ill., Mechanical Engineering) (4:03.29 in the 1,500) and DeLawrence Davis (Fr., Marion, Ark., Sports Management) (5-10.75 in the high jump), while five separate bronzes were garnered by the navy and gold.
Myrhon Addison (Fr., Glennville, Ga., Sports Management) managed third-place efforts in the shot put (50-0.75) and discus (142-10), and was ninth in the hammer throw (142-8).
Robbins-Hall was third in the 100 in 11.00 seconds, Sean Knockel (Sr., New Sharon, Iowa, Physical Education) grabbed that position in the 400-meter dash in 51.16 seconds, and Wualfret Morales (Fr., Ottumwa, Iowa, Physical Education) took bronze in the 1,500 in 4:24.32.
Frederick Kolla Nguimdo (Jr., Wheaton, Md., Secondary Education) topped WPU’s other high finishes, placing fifth in the hammer (157-6), while Javarius Hughes (Fr., Des Moines, Iowa, New Media) was sixth in the 100 (11.16) and Brayden Veiseth (Fr., New Sharon, Iowa, Industrial Technology) was ninth in the 800-meter run (2:02.05).
“We had some really good things happen this week at both meets,” Head Coach Victoria Vinokur said. “We have been waiting for the 4×1 relay to make it back to nationals, and they did it in record-breaking fashion.”
