Three Records Fall at Central
William Penn University Athletics
Pella–Three new school marks and an abundance of top-ten finishes helped the William Penn indoor track and field teams to one of their best days in a while at the Central Dutch Athletics Classic Saturday.
The men were fourth out of 11 teams with 84 points, one point ahead of league rival Grand View. Host Central won the team title with 121 points.
The women were seventh out of ten teams with 36 points, while NCAA Division II Truman (Mo.) took the crown with 157 points.
Schools records were set in three events, including the men’s weight throw and high jump and the women’s triple jump. Another event win came from the navy and gold in the 600-meter run as well.
Derek Seddon (Fr., Knoxville, Iowa, Physical Education) arguably had the top male performance, placing second in the weight throw with a new WPU mark of 51-2 and taking fifth in the shot put at 46-4.75.
Cornelius McCastle (Fr., McKinney, Texas, Industrial Technology) topped the high jump field by tying the school record of 6-6.75, while Alex Edwards (Jr., Knoxville, Iowa, Secondary Education) was also first in the 600 at 1:21.65.
Sam Taylor (Jr., Eddyville, Iowa, Industrial Technology) matched Seddon with two top fives, earning silver in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 7.92 seconds and finishing fifth in the high jump at 6-0.75.
Elnimair Barakat (So., Aurora, Ill., Mechanical Engineering) was also a two-time placer, taking third in the 200-meter dash in 23.54 seconds and seventh in the 55-meter dash in 6.77 seconds.
The Statesmen had two placers in the triple jump with Chris Gossett (Fr., Park Forest, Ill., Mechanical Engineering) in the runner-up spot at 42-11.5 and Joshua Rankin (Fr., University Park, Ill., Undecided) in fifth at 40-8.75.
The 4×400-meter relay squad crossed the line in third in 3:31.20, and Kenbea Walker (Jr., McKinney, Texas, History/Government) was fourth in the 200 in 23.55 seconds.
Seventh-place finishes were garnered by Nick Thomas (Jr., Salmon, Idaho, Physical Education) in the 1,000-meter run at 2:50.11 and Kalob Gist (So., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Business Management) in the shot put at 45-5.25.
Stepfon Williams (So., St. Louis, Mo., Industrial Technology) also scored a point for WPU by being eighth in the 400-meter dash in 53.73 seconds. Jonathan Ward (Fr., Terry, Miss., Undecided) just missed being a point-scorer, placing ninth in the 55-meter dash at 6.82 seconds.
Raveen Rhone (Jr., Los Angeles, Calif., Biology) made an incredible navy and gold debut Saturday, leading the women with two silvers. The junior, who had a long jump of 15-4, put her name in the record books with the best triple jump in history at 34-5.5.
Meaghan Foster (So., Centerville, Iowa, Undecided) also had a pair of strong contributions in field events, placing third in the weight throw at 47-5 and fourth in the shot put at 38-4.
The 4×4 group was sixth at 4:29.44, while Cierra Threats (So., Allen, Texas, Digital Communications) (1:06.02 in the 400) and Alora Simmons (So., Newton, Iowa, Elementary Education) (4-11 in the high) both managed points by finishing eighth Saturday.
Other top-ten finishes were recorded by Shaniece Dishmon (So., Harvey, Ill., Physical Education) in the 400 (9th, 1:07.00), Deja Lewis (Fr., Spring, Texas, Undecided) in the one-mile run (9th, 5:59.38), and Emmanuela Meneide (Sr., Turks and Caicos, Biology) in both the 55 (9th, 7.73) and the 200 (10th, 28.36).
“Our men and women did awesome today!” Head Coach Allen Friesen said. “Breaking three records and having the men finish ahead of Grand View, one of the league’s top programs, was really impressive.”
Next: William Penn travels to Mount Vernon next Saturday to compete in the Cornell Hilltop Invitational.
