Beaver Breaks Mile Record Again as WPU Gets Final League Prep at Bearcat Open
Maryville, Mo.–The Statesmen men’s track and field team competed one last time before the league meet as it battled at the Northwest Missouri State Bearcat Open Friday and Saturday.
D’Artagnon Beaver (Sr., Rockford, Ill., Human Services) paced the navy and gold as he again set the one-mile run school record. The senior placed fourth with a new program mark of 4:13.99, breaking his old record, set just two weeks ago, of 4:17.78.
Andrew Miller (So., Le Claire, Iowa, Exercise Science) also had a strong outing in the mile, finishing 13th in a time of 4:20.28.
Micah Mills (So., Houston, Texas, Psychology) produced the highest finish of any Statesmen, taking third in the triple jump at 46-2.5. The sophomore was 13th in the long jump as well with a mark of 21-4.
Xzavion West (Jr., Guthrie, Ky., Undecided) headlined the Statesmen throwers as he was fifth in the weight throw (56-5.25), while also ending up 17th in the shot put (47-9.75).
Nick Marshall (Jr., Glenpool, Okla., Human Services) gave the navy and gold a second individual in the top half of the weight throw standings as he placed 22nd at 50-2.75.
Tony Paye (Fr., Johnston, Iowa, Exercise Science) recorded a seventh-place effort in the 60-meter hurdles; the freshman hit the line in 8.30 seconds in the finals, but was even faster in the prelims in 8.26 seconds. He also finished 32nd in the 200-meter dash in 22.64 seconds.
Showalter Johnson (Sr., Nassau, Bahamas, New Media) was William Penn’s best sprinter, taking ninth in the 60-meter dash in 6.84 seconds and 11th in the 200 in 22.15 seconds.
Travaughn Robbins-Hall (Fr., Lauderhill, Fla., Software Engineering) was also in the top half in the 60, finishing 30th (7.06), while Brandon Williams (Sr., Fountain, Colo., Engineering Technology) was 19th in the 800-meter run in 1:54.80.
“This meet allowed us to see the track before next week’s Heart Championship,” Head Coach Victoria Vinokur said. “We wanted our athletes to feel out the track, runways, boards, etc. Even though this was a strategic meet, our athletes still went out there and performed well. We saw some really good things and some things to tighten up going into the conference meet. They are in a good spot heading into the league meet and are hungry for some big performances.”
Next Up: William Penn returns to Maryville, Mo. next Friday and Saturday to compete in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship.
