Seven Titles Won at Central Invite
Pella–The William Penn track and field teams took advantage of terrific weather as the Statesmen competed well at the Central Invitational Saturday.
The WPU men were second out of seven teams with 124 points, while the women were third out of seven squads with 85 points. Host Central swept the titles with the men tallying 280 points and the women gathering 238 points.
Despite putting the smaller crew into battle, the women actually claimed more top spots, gathering five golds overall.
Abigaille Batu-Tiako (So., Plattsburgh, N.Y.) was a two-time winner (for transparency’s sake, she was the only competitor in the triple jump), taking the long jump at 16-10 and the triple jump at 33-4.5.
Raven Williams (Sr., Las Vegas, Nev.) nearly eclipsed the one-minute mark in the 400-meter dash, winning the crown in 1:00.08, while Alexandra Rose (So., Quincy, Ill.) was the best 100-meter dash sprinter in 13.06 seconds. Rose was also sixth in the 200-meter dash (28.48).
Phoebe Burt (Fr., Coralville, Iowa) headed all of the discus athletes as well with a toss of 133-11.
Tabitha Rogers (Fr., Venice, Calif.) just missed titles in the sprints, taking second in both the 100 (13.29) and the 200 (27.68). Katherine Hunter (Sr., Bloomfield, Iowa) ended up with bronze in the 400-meter hurdles (1:09.68), while Salima Omari (So., Iowa City, Iowa) finished sixth in the shot put at 37-0.5.
Kenneth Bolton III (Sr., South Riding, Va., Business Management) and Justin Moeller (Jr., Keota, Iowa, Psychology) headlined the men’s side with Bolton winning the 800-meter run in 1:59.73 and Moeller finishing first in the triple jump at 45-2.25. Moeller fell just shy of the double crown, taking second in the long jump at 22-6.25.
While three other Statesmen joined Moeller as a two-time top-10 finisher, Jasper Stottlemyer (Sr., Council Bluffs, Iowa, Sociology) was the only person wearing William Penn to finish in the top 10 on three occasions. He earned the bronze in both the shot put (45-11.25) and the discus (146-6), while placing fourth in the hammer (146-7).
Jaelen Love (Sr., Crown Point, Ind., Secondary Education) was the leader of the two-time grouping with a silver in the 200 (22.17) and a fifth-place effort in the 100 (11.14). Tom Nyandoro (Fr., Wake Forest, N.C., Computer Science) was third in the 400-meter hurdles (59.65) and fourth in the 110-meter hurdles (15.73), while Jace Lukefahr (Jr., Newton, Iowa) ended up fifth in the shot put (43-3) and seventh in the discus (119-9).
Jaden Loveless (Fr., Des Moines, Iowa) was runner-up in the 400 (50.84), while also just missing the top 10 in the 200 (11th, 23.46).
William Penn had numerous others in the top 10 or top half of their fields, including Ethan Harrington (Jr., Melcher, Iowa, Industrial Technology), in third (146-2), and Jeremiah Conteh (So., Shorewood, Wis., English), in sixth (136-4), doing so in the javelin.
Jonah Heckenberg (So., Stockport, Iowa, Business Management), in fifth (4:09.45), and Brandon Williams (Fr., Fountain, Colo., Civil Engineering), in eighth (4:20.11), were both point-getters in the 1,500-meter run. Also scoring on Saturday were Alejandro Flores (So., Centennial, Colo., Business Management) (fifth, 400, 54.52), Josh Ogden (Jr., Sarasota, Fla.) (sixth, 200, 22.76), and Yasin Mohammed (Sr., Laurel, Md.) (eighth, 100, 11.64).
800-meter runners DaMonte Sherod (So., Florissant, Mo., Mechanical Engineering) (11th, 2:08.81) and Ethan Varvelo (Fr., Channelview, Texas) (13th, 2:09.36) narrowly missed the top 10 in their event.
“This was a solid effort today from our athletes,” Head Coach Allen Friesen said. “I am very pleased in our progression in the early part of the outdoor season and am excited to see what we do at our home meet.”
Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa next Thursday and Friday to host the William Penn Statesmen Invitational at Statesmen Community Stadium.
