Williams Qualifies in Second Individual Event as WPU Splits Squads
Pittsburg, Kan./Davenport–The William Penn men’s indoor track and field teams split up this weekend and attacked a pair of meets in preparation for next week’s league championship.
A few individuals competed at the Pittsburg State Gorilla Classic with John Webb (Fr., Dothan, Ala., Mechanical Engineering) having the highest finish as he was 15th in the triple jump at 44-11.25.
Nick Marshall (Jr., Glenpool, Okla., Human Services) was next, taking 17th with a weight throw of 51-8.5, while Showalter Johnson (Jr., Nassau, Bahamas, New Media) ended up 23rd in the 200-meter dash in 22.31 seconds.
Several more athletes battled at the St. Ambrose Tune Up Saturday, guiding William Penn to a fifth-place showing out of seven teams with 57 points. Augustana (Ill.) led the field with 166 points.
The distance-running trio of Brandon Williams (Jr., Fountain, Colo., Civil Engineering), Jonah Heckenberg (Sr., Stockport, Iowa, Business Management), and D’Artagnon Beaver (Jr., Rockford, Ill., Human Services) all hit automatic qualifying standards.
Williams, who had already qualified in the 800-meter run earlier this year, won the 1,000-meter run with a school-record time of 2:29.56, while Heckenberg was right behind him in second at 2:30.11. By converting the times due to track size, both individuals hit the ‘A’ mark.
Beaver was a champion as well, winning the 3,000-meter run event by lowering his own school-record time down to 8:34.54.
Tom Nyandoro (Jr., Wake Forest, N.C., Information Technology) was next, earning the triple jump silver at 40-11.
Four throwers notched a pair of high finishes as well, including Marshall who was sixth in the weight throw (52-2.75) and eighth in the shot put (43-11.75).
Steven Murray (Sr., Missouri Valley, Iowa, Sociology) was actually WPU’s top shot putter, taking seventh at 44-7.5, while Xzavion West (So., Guthrie, Ky., Undecided) was 12th (42-2.25) and Jeremiah Conteh (Sr., Shorewood, Wis., English) placed 15th at 40-8.75.
In the weight throw, West placed seventh (51-7.75), while Conteh was ninth (50-0) and Murray took 12th (44-8.25).
Bennett Polite (Jr., Kearney, Mo., Fine Arts) nabbed a trio of high finishes, including being eighth in the high jump (5-11.5), 15th in the 200 (23.98), and 18th in the 60-meter dash (7.33). Kwabena Banahene (Fr., Fontana, Calif., Undecided) tied Polite for eighth in the high jump at 5-11.5 as well.
Sprinters Rayan Antonia (So., Willensted, Curacao, Business Management), who was 15th in the 60 (7.31), and Jaden Loveless (Jr., Des Moines, Iowa, Industrial Technology), who was ninth in the 400-meter dash (52.84) and 16th in the 200 (24.00), had productive weekends as well.
“Our guys had lots of success this weekend,” Head Coach Victoria Vinokur said. “Once again, our distance squads are putting up stats that are just unreal. For Brandon Williams, D’Artagnon Beaver, and Jonah Heckenberg to all hit ‘A’ standards and break records again, they are just on a great trajectory to really make a statement going into the conference meet. Looking at standings and overall where the men’s side is stacking up in the league, we are making a run to do some damage. It is going to be a fight, but they are more than ready for the challenge.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Maryville, Mo. next Friday and Saturday to compete in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship.
