William Penn Athletic News November 6

William Penn University Athletics

Penn Pounds Waldorf 58-10

Forest City–The Statesmen football team took care of business early and cruised to a 58-10 victory over Waldorf in Midwest League play Saturday.

One week after setting all sorts of game and season records, #14 Penn (9-1, 5-1 MWL) added to those numbers.  The visitors rushed for 516 yards en route to a 624-204 edge in total yards.

The win sets up one of the biggest matchups in school history as St. Francis (Ill.) (7-3, 5-1 MWL) comes to Oskaloosa next Saturday at 1 p.m. for the regular season finale.

If Penn is victorious, it will at least earn a share the MWL title and be in a solid position to pick up an at-large spot to the NAIA playoffs.  If the Statesmen win AND Grand View upsets McKendree, Penn will win the MWL outright and collect the league’s automatic berth to the playoffs.

The defense actually put up Saturday’s first points as Damon Harrison (Jr., Lake Charles, La., Lake Charles Boston HS) recovered a fumble in the endzone to put the Statesmen up 7-0 just 4:50 into the afternoon.

Marcus Kerrigan (Fr., Cary, Ill., Cary-Grove HS) then knocked through the first of his three field goals, a 20-yarder at the 4:56 mark.  He converted on another 20-yarder as well as one from 34 yards out later in the day.

Shawn Davis (Fr., Hamersville, Ohio, Western Brown HS) extended the advantage to 17-0 just under four minutes later with a 14-yard scoring run, his first of two in the win.  Davis rushed 15 times for 84 yards.

Jonques Wells (So., Columbus, Miss., New Hope HS) added a 23-yard scoring run in the second quarter before Taylor Parsons (Fr., The Woodlands, Texas, College Park HS) helped account for his only touchdown.  The freshman hooked up with Jimmy Deegan (Sr., Farmington, Minn., Farmington HS) for a 20-yard pass play just 1:49 before halftime.  It is Deegan’s first career touchdown catch.

Although he put up the day’s biggest numbers, Parsons failed to reach the endzone.  The freshman carried the pigskin on 14 occasions for a game-high 183 yards and also completed four of his six passes for 108 yards.  Bernard Luster (Sr., Corinth, Miss., Northeast Mississippi CC) caught the other three balls for 88 yards.

Wells, who finished with 72 yards (15 rushes), hit paydirt once more in the third quarter on a two-yard plunge, while Aaron Kissinger (Sr., Luka, Miss., Northeast Mississippi CC) ended the game’s scoring with a 34-yard run.  Kissinger rushed only three times, but picked up 58 yards in the process.

DeMarco Sanders (Jr., Horn Lake, Miss., Horn Lake HS) tallied 56 yards, also on just three carries.

Defensively, Harrison and Rushawn Stewart (Jr., Houston, Texas, Eisenhower HS) led Penn with eight stops each, while Terrance Harper (Sr., Miami, Fla., Edgewater HS) recorded an interception and Michael Wright (So., Olive Branch, Miss., Olive Branch HS) had the team’s lone quarterback sack.

Penn Women Advance to Semis with Four-Set Victory over Clarke
Dubuque–It is extremely difficult to beat a team three times in one year, evidenced by Penn knocking off Clarke 3-1 in the quarterfinals of the Midwest Collegiate Conference Tournament Saturday.

The fifth-seeded Lady Statesmen (24-20) defeated the #4 seed by scores of 25-15, 19-25, 25-12, 25-18.  Penn will now travel to La Crosse, Wis. next Wednesday to face top-seeded Viterbo in the semifinals at 7 p.m.  The V-Hawks won both of the regular season meetings between the two programs, most recently 3-1 on October 20.

Penn had lost a pair of five-set matches earlier in the fall to the Crusaders, but on Saturday the visitors were much more effective, owning a .311-.124 edge in hitting, including having five players over the .300 mark.

Emily Stanton (Sr., Oskaloosa, Oskaloosa HS) led the charge with 12 kills, while Morgan Bailey (Sr., Oskaloosa, Oskaloosa HS) had 11 and Paige Echimovich (Fr., O’Fallon, Mo., Fort Zumwalt West HS) added ten.

Brittany Rohling (Jr., Thayer, Kan., Neosho CC) just missed the mark with nine, while Katherine Stumberg (Jr., Williamsburg, Williamsburg HS) assisted on 21 winners in addition to four kills with a team-best .800 attack clip.  Krista Pettit (Sr., Grundy Center, Grundy Center HS) managed 19 assists.

Stanton and Caitlin Hadden (Sr., Oskaloosa, Oskaloosa HS) dug 15 balls each, while Hadden and Pettit served up two aces apiece.

The team posed a major presence on the defensive net as well with five different individuals recording multiple blocks.  Rohling and Rachel Walker (Sr., Janesville, Kirkwood CC) both posted five block assists in the win.

Schuler to Nationals with Fifth-Place Showing

Clinton–Kipp Schuler (Sr., Haviland, Kan., Dana) earned one more competition before his collegiate cross country career ends as he led the Penn men at the Midwest Collegiate Conference Championships Saturday.

Penn finished fourth out of seven teams with 80 points, while Mount Mercy took a tight team race with 55 points, just three points ahead of Grand View.  The Mustangs will now compete at the NAIA Men’s Cross Country National Championships in Vancouver, Wash. on Saturday, November 20.

Joining Mount Mercy will be five other individuals from the league, including race champion Kevin Randle of St. Ambrose, who finished the 8K course with a time of 26:45.  Randle was named MCC Men’s Harrier of the Year, while Ryan Sheckel of Mount Mercy garnered MCC Men’s Coach of the Year honors.

John Darmody (SAU), Jim Vonnahme (GVU), Schuler, and Doug Powers (Ashford) also advanced.

Schuler placed fifth overall (out of 86 runners) with a time of 27:25.  He becomes Penn’s first national qualifier since Blake Wallace in 2008 and its fifth NAIA individual qualifier since joining the division in 2001 (team qualified in 2001).

Keaton Studebaker (Fr., Ogden, Utah, Weber HS) was next for the Statesmen in 12th with a time of 28:12, while Nicholas Reynolds (Jr., Riverton, Utah, Iowa Western CC) placed 15th with a time of 28:27.

Jordan Letzring (Sr., Alta, Alta HS), who ran in his final cross country meet, just missed the top 20, taking 22nd with a time of 29:09, while Brandon Nicholson (So., Cedar Falls, Cedar Falls HS) made his season debut by rounding out the scoring in 26th with a time of 29:25.

Quintin Marshall (Fr., St. Louis, Mo., McCluer South Berkeley HS), in 41st (30:36), Cameron Pittman (Fr., Carl Junction, Mo., Carl Junction HS), in 64th (32:13), and Donovan DeVore (Jr., Wilton, Wilton HS), in 78th (34:32), also ran for the Penn men.

“Although we did not pull off the upset that I really thought we were capable of, we improved our times greatly from our last meet on this course,” Statesmen Head Coach Ammon Bennett said.  “We were about two minutes faster per runner compared to earlier this year.  I am pleased with our effort today and I am proud and happy for Kipp.  I know he will represent Penn well at nationals.”

Lady Statesmen Conclude 2010 at League Championships

Clinton–The Penn women’s cross country program ended its season by competing at the Midwest Collegiate Conference Championships Saturday.

Penn finished sixth out of eight teams with 177 points, while Viterbo took the title with 36 points, easily outdistancing four-time defending champion Mount Mercy by 27 points.  The V-Hawks will now compete at the NAIA Women’s Cross Country National Championships in Vancouver, Wash. on Saturday, November 20.

Joining Viterbo will be five other individuals from the league, including race champion Obsie Birru of Grand View, who finished the 5K course with a time of 17:56.  Birru was named MCC Women’s Harrier of the Year, while John Metelko of Viterbo garnered MCC Women’s Coach of the Year honors.

Kara Keller (GVU), Kara Danielson (MMU), Brooke Ashford (SAU), and Abby Parsons (SAU) also advanced.

Nicole Rogge (Fr., Glendale, Ariz., Apollo HS) headed Penn in 34th place overall (out of 81 runners) with a time of 22:04.

Katie Burnett (Sr., Mesa, Ariz., Desert Ridge HS) was next in 38th place with a time of 22:11, while Kyra English (Fr., Draper, Utah, Alta HS) finished 47th with a time of 23:11.

Alvina Gilmore (Fr., Keams Canyon, Ariz., Hopi HS) placed 53rd with a time of 24:02 and Jessica Bixler (Sr., Oskaloosa, Oskaloosa HS) rounded out the team’s scoring in 60th with a time of 24:34.

Morgan Avery (Jr., Minot, N.D., Iowa Western CC), in 61st (24:40), Paige Thill (Fr., Perry, Perry HS), in 67th (25:20), and Shelby Chisholm (Fr., Port Huron, Mich., Port Huron HS), in 75th (27:39), also ran for Penn.

“We improved quite a bit from last time we were on this course and I am very pleased with how the ladies competed this year,” Lady Statesmen Head Coach Ammon Bennett said.  “They battled through some injuries and other things and did their best.”

Bixler and Burnett ended their cross country careers Saturday.

Penn Men Drop 87-83 Decision to Graceland
Oskaloosa–An improved second-half effort was not enough to lift the Statesmen basketball team in an 87-83 loss to Graceland Saturday.

Penn (1-1) had issues on defense, losing the shooting battle 57.7%-40.3%.  The hosts fell behind 53-44 at the break as the Yellowjackets hit 66.7% of their attempts.

The second stanza showed a tougher Statesmen squad that was able to claw back into the lead at 63-62 with a 9-1 run.

Graceland (2-2) pulled back ahead right away, however, and was able to keep the margin to at least two for the remainder of the night.

Huzie Hambrite (Jr., Indianapolis, Ind., Ball State), who matched Ryan Wilson (Sr., Ballwin, Mo., Missouri-Kansas City) with a team-best 17 points, got Penn within two one last time in the waning seconds on a leaning three-pointer.

The junior was fouled on the shot, but he tried to miss the following free throw to give his teammates a chance to rebound the ball and throw up a buzzer-beating three-pointer.  Unfortunately, his rainbow shot went in, forcing the defense to foul and Chris Henderson-Wells hit both charity stripe tries to ice the game.

Wilson was 6-of-7 from the field and was one rebound away from his second-straight double-double.

Wiebe Goodyk (So., Oskaloosa, Iowa Central CC) was next for Penn with 16 points, while Deon Bergeron (Sr., Lake Charles, La., Grand Lake HS) added 14 points.  Both players connected on four trifectas in the loss.

Alan Douglas (Jr., Champaign, Ill., Lakeland CC) hit several free throws down the stretch to add seven points overall.  He tied Hambrite and Wilson with two steals, while four players had two assists apiece.

Penn outrebounded the Yellowjackets 41-30, resulting in a dominating 24-7 edge in second-chance points.  The Statesmen also won the turnover battle 18-19.  Both teams were an identical 19-of-29 at the line.

“Our zone offense is pretty poor right now and I take blame for that,” Statesmen Head Coach John Henry said. “We need to work on our half-court defense as well.  Graceland executed well, but we did not bear down like we needed to.  We are a work in progress and there is a lot of season to go.”

Next: Penn travels to Ankeny next Tuesday to face Faith Baptist Bible in non-conference action at 7 p.m.

Penn Women Lose Upset Bid Against Concordia, 70-68

Oskaloosa–For the second game in a row, the Lady Statesmen basketball team almost had victory in its grip, only to watch in snatched away in the end in a 70-68 loss to #11 nationally-ranked Concordia (Neb.) Saturday.

Penn (1-2) stayed within a dozen in the non-conference matchup and had a chance to win in the final seconds, but was unable to get a lengthy shot off at the buzzer.  The Lady Statesmen had a chance on Thursday night against Peru State as well, but again were thwarted.

Before the game, Christa Subbert (Sr., Stanton, Stanton HS) was honored for notching her 1,500th career point and, despite not having one of her best shooting nights (6-of-17 FG), the senior still led Penn with 19 points.

The home team trailed by four points with just 17 seconds left before Orielle Thomas (Fr., Waynesville, Mo., Waynesville HS) stole the ball and Sarah Martin (So., Anthem, Ariz., Boulder Creek HS) laid it up to cut the deficit in half.

The defense set up the press again and collected another theft, capitalizing with two free throws by Samantha Darley (Sr., Gilbert, Ariz., Mesa HS).

Unfortunately, the Bulldogs (1-1) broke the ensuing press and moved quickly down the court, resulting in a layup by Amber Kistler with just two seconds remaining.  The Lady Statesmen, with no timeouts to use, were understandably shaken and failed to get a game-winning attempt away before the buzzer sounded.

Penn may be able to look at several areas for improvement, but not in the area of turnovers as Concordia was forced into 31 mistakes (ten steals), while the home team committing just 17 itself.  The Lady Statesmen owned a 30-14 advantage in points off turnovers.

The hosts were outshot 42.4%-31.9% and also missed several opportunities from the charity stripe, going just 19-of-33.

Martin reached double figures with 12 points and three steals, while Thomas put up nine points with a team-best ten rebounds. Rachel Butler (Sr., Orange County, Calif., Cerritos CC) contributed eight points as well and matched Randi Olson (Jr., Federal Way, Wash., Skyline CC) with three assists.

Next: Penn stays in Oskaloosa next Friday to host Central Methodist (Mo.) in non-conference action at 5 p.m.

Wade Steinlage