Johnson Hits Qualifying Standard at Central Meet
Pella–Showalter Johnson (So., Nassau, Bahamas, Business Management) will once again be in the national tournament field as he guided the Statesmen track and field teams at the Central Dutch Invitational Friday.
Although he did not win the 100-meter dash, Johnson, who took second, did eclipse the provisional national-qualifying standard with a time of 10.59 seconds. The sophomore was also third in the 200-meter dash in 21.71 seconds.
Tafara Hondonga (Sr., Aberdeen, S.D., Business Management) was WPU’s lone individual champion, topping all 400-meter dash sprinters in a time of 48.45 seconds.
The 4×100-meter relay team also earned gold in 42.26 seconds.
Tahj Ferguson (Sr., Hartford, Conn., Psychology) was second in the long jump at 22-11.75, while the 4×400-meter relay crew earned runner-up laurels in 3:30.85.
Third-place finishes were claimed by Tom Nyandoro (So., Wake Forest, N.C., Information Technology) in the triple jump (42-4) and Max Finley (Fr., Richville, N.Y., Secondary Education) in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (10:07.42), while Jaelen Love (Sr., Crown Point, Ind., English) was fourth in the 100 (10.95).
Johnny Fisher (Fr., Laporte, Colo., New Media) was both fifth in the 200 (22.31) and eighth in the 100 (11.11).
Justin Moeller (Sr., Keota, Iowa, Psychology) and Jasper Stottlemyer (Sr., Council Bluffs, Iowa, Sociology) both had busy days as each athlete finished in the top half in multiple events. Moeller was sixth in the long jump (22-3.5), seventh in the high jump (6-0.75), 10th in the 110-meter hurdles, and 11th in the pole vault (12-5.5). Stottlemyer’s best effort came in the shot put (6th, 47-5.25); he was 12th in the discus (140-2) and 19th in the hammer throw (155-6) as well.
Keaten Griffen (Fr., Longview, Texas, Software Engineering) ended up seventh in the pole vault (13-5.25) as did Landon Hansen (Sr., Newton, Iowa, Political Science) in the shot put (47-1).
Brandon Williams (Fr., Fountain, Colo., Civil Engineering) also recorded a top-10 showing, taking ninth in the 800-meter run in 1:58.53.
Jeremiah Conteh (Jr., Shorewood, Wis., English) placed 11th in the shot put (44-0.5), Rayan Antonia (Fr., Willemstad, Curacao, Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management) finished 12th in the 100 (11.21), and Jonah Heckenberg (Jr., Stockport, Iowa, Business Management) was 13th in the 1,500-meter run (4:12.09) and 18th in the 800 (2:06.69).
Jace Lukefahr (Sr., Newton, Iowa, Mechanical Engineering) produced a top-half performance in the discus (24th, 124-1) as well.
Abigaille Batu-Tiako (Jr., Plattsburgh, N.Y., Business Management) highlighted the WPU female contingency as she tallied three top-half outings. The junior was best in the long jump, taking third at 16-11.5. She also ended up 11th in the 100-meter hurdles and 13th in the 100 (12.90).
Alexandra Rose (Jr., Quincy, Ill., Exercise Science), in the 100 (12.63) and Raven Williams (Grad., Las Vegas, Nev., Master’s of Organizational Leadership), in the 200 (26.20), were both seventh; Rose was also 20th in the 200 (27.30).
Tabitha Rogers (So., Venice, Calif., Elementary Education) placed eighth in the 100 (12.76) and 14th in the 200 (26.66), while Erica Martin (Jr., Detroit, Mich., Sports Management) also recorded a top-10 performance (shot put, 10th, 39-10.75).
Phoebe Burt (So., Coralville, Iowa) ended up 13th overall in the discus (113-4) and Aiyanna Campbell was 23rd in the 200 (27.49).
“This was a great day for us against some really tough competition,” Head Coach Allen Friesen said. “In addition to Showalter Johnson qualifying for nationals, we produced several PRs and also nearly qualified the 4×1 teams.”
Next Up: William Penn will split up its squad with some individuals going to Lawrence, Kan. next Thursday through Saturday for the Kansas Relays, while others will travel to Des Moines next Friday to compete in the Drake Jim Duncan Invitational.
