Four Qualifiers and a Record for Statesmen at Bearcat Open
Maryville, Mo.–The William Penn men’s track and field team enjoyed two outstanding days of competition as it battled at the Northwest Missouri State Bearcat Open Friday and Saturday.
WPU athletes produced four national-qualifying efforts and also broke three school records, headlined by Brandon Williams (Jr., Fountain, Colo., Civil Engineering) accomplishing both in the 800-meter run. The junior placed eighth in the event in a time of 1:52.89, hitting both the automatic national-qualifying standard and snapping the program record of 1:53.71, set by Alex Edwards in 2015.
Jonah Heckenberg (Sr., Stockport, Iowa, Business Management) matched Williams with the ‘double’ as his sixth-place showing in the 1,000-meter run in a time of 2:29.79 met the provisional standard and snapped another 2015 record by Alex Edwards (2:30.87).
Anthony Weaver (Fr., Demopolis, Ala., Mechanical Engineering) did not have a school record, but he did win the triple jump, taking the gold with an automatic-standard mark of 47-2.5.
D’Artagnon Beaver (Jr., Rockford, Ill., Human Services) became a school record-holder as well, taking seventh in the 5,000-meter run in a time of 15:09.02. He bettered the previous record of 15:14.04 by Jamal Boma from 2017.
Already a national qualifier in the event, Showalter Johnson (Jr., Nassau, Bahamas, New Media) also had a huge outing as he improved to the ‘A’ list in the 60-meter dash by placing fifth with a time of 6.80 seconds.
Keaten Griffen (So., Longview, Texas, Industrial Technology) managed a top-five showing in the pole vault, finishing third at 14-4, while Tahj Ferguson (Sr., Hartford, Conn., Psychology) had two top efforts, including placing sixth in the long jump at 21-4.75. The senior was also 25th in the 60 (7.21).
Fellow sprinter John Webb (Fr., Dothan, Ala., Mechanical Engineering) also had solid times in the 200 (23.24, 44th) and 400-meter dashes (51.26, 39th).
In addition to his triple jump, Weaver guided the navy and gold hurdlers as he was 11th in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.60 seconds.
Heckenberg found success in two events as well, also taking 18th in the 800 in 1:56.43. Max Finley (So., Richville, N.Y., Computer Science) ended up 14th in the 5,000-meter run (15:35.06) and 17th in the 3,000-meter run (9:02.79).
Jalen Morris (Fr., Grimes, Iowa, Business Management) and Tristan Dejong (Fr., Knoxville, Iowa, Sports Management) followed Ferguson in the long jump with Morris taking 10th at 20-6.5 and Dejong placing 16th at 20-1.
William Penn’s throwers also put their names high in the standings, including Jeremiah Conteh (Sr., Shorewood, Wis., English) finishing 11th in the weight throw (50-0.75).
Nick Marshall (Jr., Glenpool, Okla., Human Services) was twice in the top 15, taking 13th in the weight throw (49-3.75) and 14th in the shot put (45-8). Steven Murray (Sr., Missouri Valley, Iowa, Sociology) accomplished the double placing as well, ending up 20th in the weight throw (45-7) and 22nd in the shot put (43-9.75).
“This weekend was a big one for our men,” Head Coach Viktoria Vinokur said. “They saw some very strong competition in every event and definitely rose to the challenge. They were more than ready for this challenge and were hungry for it. To hit four standards and break another school record is incredible. Every distance record from the 800-meter run and up, including relays, is held by current athletes. That just shows you how talented these athletes are and they are nowhere close to being done. This weekend puts this team in a really strong mindset going into conference in a couple weeks.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Davenport next Saturday to compete in the St. Ambrose Tune-Up.
