Three More Records Broken at IWU Titan Open
William Penn University Athletics
Bloomington, Ill.–The Statesmen indoor track and field teams traveled on treacherous roads Saturday, but once they reached their destination, they were tremendous in numerous events en route to a strong showing at the Illinois Wesleyan Titan Open.
The WPU men were fourth out of ten teams with 56 points, while the women were fifth out of ten programs with 34 points. Lincoln (Ill.) and Greenville (Ill.) tied for the men’s crown with 97 points, while host Illinois Wesleyan led the women’s standings with 176 points.
The Statesmen men only scored in six different events, but made them count, including having multiple point-getters in three competitions.
Kalob Gist (So., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Business Management) topped the shot put field with a toss of 48-8.75, while Derek Seddon (Fr., Knoxville, Iowa, Physical Education) was the runner-up at 48-6.75.
Each individual also posted points in the weight throw with Seddon taking second (51-2.25) and Gist finishing seventh (40-1.25). Seddon continues to excel in the weight throw, breaking the school record for the third-consecutive meet.
The triple throw was also huge for WPU with Chris Gossett (Fr., Park Forest, Ill., Mechanical Engineering) placing second at 43-11.25. Joshua Rankin (Fr., University Park, Ill., Undecided) was right behind him in third at 42-5.25, while Van Love-Scott (Jr., Detroit, Mich., Education) was sixth at 40-9.5.
Sam Taylor (Jr., Eddyville, Iowa, Industrial Technology) notched silver as well, doing so in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.55 seconds.
Yonas Desta made his collegiate debut by finishing third in the 3,000-meter run at 9:29.82, and Stepfon Williams (So., St. Louis, Mo., Industrial Technology) was sixth in the 400-meter dash in 52.31 seconds.
William Penn’s women’s squad spread out its points a bit more (eight events), beginning with new program marks by Raveen Rhone (Jr., Los Angeles, Calif., Biology) in the triple jump and Deja Lewis (Fr., Spring, Texas, Undecided) in the 3,000-meter run. Rhone was second in her competition at 34-6.75, while Lewis was also second in a time of 11:35.58. Rhone also took sixth in the long jump (15-2.75).
Throwers Meaghan Foster (So., Centerville, Iowa, Undecided) and Kristin Lastovka (So., Brooklyn, Iowa, Business Management) both got in the top eight twice for WPU. Foster was second in the weight throw at 48-7.5 and third in the shot put at 39-8.75, while Lastovka was sixth in the shot (33-9.25) and eighth in the weight (35-0.25).
Rosemary Bailey (Jr., Fayetteville, Ark., Communications) also scored in the 3K race, placing sixth at 12:03.24. Tamara Weltch (Sr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Human Services/Sociology) gave WPU three high finishes in the weight throw, tossing the seventh-best implement at 38-4.75. She was also tenth in the shot put (29-8).
Other sixth-place performances were tallied by Sade Myers (Jr., Honolulu, Hawaii, Elementary Education) (400-meter dash, 1:03.57) and Cassandra Kingery (Fr., Winfield, Iowa, Undecided) (60-meter hurdles, 10.68 seconds), while Alora Simmons (So., Newton, Iowa, Elementary Education) was seventh in the high jump at 4-9.
Sprinters Emmanuela Meneide (Sr., Turks and Caicos, Biology), in ninth at 8.23 seconds, and Cierra Threats (So., Allen, Texas, Digital Communications), in tenth at 8.24, just missed out on adding to William Penn’s point total in the 60-meter dash.
“Our athletes overcame some adversity today and performed well,” Head Coach Allen Friesen said. “I saw the ‘eye of the tiger’ in them today. Our men and women were fiercely competitive and I could not be prouder.”
Next: William Penn travels to Crete, Neb. next Saturday to compete in the Doane Invitational.
