Aderibigbe Qualifies at Heart Championship
Cedar Rapids–Adedoyin Aderibigbe (Fr., Cedar Hill, Texas, Sociology) hit a qualifying time as the William Penn women’s track and field team competed at the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship Friday and Saturday.
As a team, the Statesmen were 13th out of 14 teams with 20.5 points, while Central Methodist claimed the team crown with 237.5 points.
Aderibigbe headlined the navy and gold’s efforts, placing fourth in the 100-meter dash in 12.14 seconds. Her preliminary-round time of 11.79 seconds was good for second in the field, but more importantly met the NAIA’s ‘B’ standard.
The freshman is the second national qualifier for WPU this year, joining Phoebe Burt (Sr., Coralville, Iowa, Sociology). She also qualified eighth in the 200-meter dash in 25.79 seconds, but did not run in the finals.
Burt matched her teammate by taking fourth place, doing so in the discus at 133-10.
Crystal Shaw (Fr., Austin, Texas, Applied Computer Science) was her squad’s top point-scorer, placing in both horizontal jumps. The freshman was fifth in the long jump at 18-5, while ending up sixth in the triple jump at 36-8.5.
Arabella Nepa (Fr., Clayton, Ga., New Media) also placed at the Championship, taking fifth in the high jump at 4-9.75.
“We took some good out of today with all things considered,” Head Coach Victoria Vinokur said. “A lot of our women were nursing injuries, but battled through the best they could. Some things did not fall our way, but they worked hard for everything they got. The icing on the cake was Adedoyin hitting the standard in the 100 after missing half of the outdoor season. It is nice to see her come into form.”
Next Up: William Penn will send select individuals to some last-chance meets with the possibility of heading to the Concordia Twilight in Seward, Neb. next Friday, the St. Francis Fighting Chance Invitational in Joliet, Ill. next Friday, or the Nebraska Kearney Loper Twilight in Kearney, Neb. next Saturday.
