Trozzi Qualifies for Nationals, Earns Honorable-Mention All-Heart

Cedar Rapids–Vernon Trozzi (Jr., Hesperia, Calif., Exercise Science) ran the best race of his life at the right time as he earned a spot at nationals at the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship Saturday.

William Penn placed sixth out of 14 teams with 180 points, while Grand View (24 points) easily claimed the crown and the league’s automatic berth to the NAIA National Championship.

Trevor Albert of GVU was the individual winner of the 8K race in a time of 24:50.6.

Trozzi became the program’s first national qualifier since 2016 as he placed 11th out of 149 competitors with a time of 26:00.6. His time ties the 10th-fastest in program history and helped him also earn honorable-mention all-Heart laurels (top 10 racers were first team).

Trozzi will now travel to Vancouver, Wash. on Friday, November 19 to compete in the NAIA National Championship.

Jonah Heckenberg (So., Stockport, Iowa, Business Management) was second for the Statesmen as he placed 32nd in a time of 27:14.3.

The team’s bronze runner was William De Jesus (Jr., Homestead, Fla., Biology), who finished in a time of 27:43.7 to take 48th.

Brandon Williams (Fr., Fountain, Colo., Civil Engineering), in 53rd at 27:46.2, and Kenneth Bolton III (Sr., South Riding, Va., Business Management), in 70th at 28:13.7, completed the team scoring for the Statesmen.

Isaac Knockel (So., New Sharon, Iowa, Biology) guided the remaining WPU runners with a time of 28:28.6 (80th).

“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 exceeded our preseason ranking; we knew it was going to be a toss-up where we landed, but we hung in there and had a solid team finish. At the end of the day, our runners gave their best, and that is all I can ask for.”