Statesmen End Year at Heart Championship

Cedar Rapids–The William Penn women’s cross country team closed out its 2021 campaign by competing at the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship Saturday.

WPU placed 11th out of 14 teams with 299 points, while Benedictine won the title and claimed the automatic berth to the NAIA National Championship with 49 points. Baker was a close second with 56 points.

Individually, Morgan Lawson of Grand View was first out of 115 runners on the 5K course in a time of 18:22.1.

Michaela Kmiec (Jr., Centerville, Texas, Exercise Science) and Delana Jordan (Jr., Addison, Texas, Business Management) paced the Statesmen at the top of the lineup, finishing 56th and 57th, respectively. Kmiec closed out the race in a time of 21:33.4, while Jordan was less than a second later at 21:34.1.

Zena Cohuo (Sr., Carrollton, Texas, Exercise Science) was next, finishing 83rd at 23:20.6, while Talaysia Douver (Sr., Lakewood, Calif., Sociology) was also under 24 minutes at 23:43.3 to end up 86th.

Roselaure Fuller (Fr., Pella, Iowa, Nursing) wrapped up the navy and gold scoring, placing 103rd at 25:38.5.

“I am proud of the way we raced,” Head Coach Sean Gosewisch said. “We were smart, ran as a team, and walked off with many lifetime bests. We raced the best we have all year, but realize we have a lot of work to continue climbing up the ladder. At the end of the day, our runners gave their best and that is all I can ask for.”