McCastle Qualifies, Three Records Broken at Dubuque Classic
William Penn University Athletics
Waverly/Dubuque–Cornelius McCastle (Fr., McKinney, Texas, Industrial Technology) became the second Statesmen to earn his bid to nationals as the Statesmen track and field teams competed at two meets this weekend.
McCastle won the high jump event at Saturday’s Dubuque Sol Butler Classic in an NAIA ‘B’ standard height of 6-8. The mark is also a new school record (previously set by McCastle and Jonathan Pope at 6-6.75).
The men’s 4×400-meter relay team also broke the school record in a time of 3:25.72 to finish second, while Tarah Alexander (Jr., Cedar, Iowa, Undecided) set a new mark in the women’s one-mile run as well with a time of 5:46.12 to place sixth. Alexander was also sixth in the 600-meter run (1:52.89).
Three men placed in the top ten in multiple events at Dubuque. Derek Seddon (So., Knoxville, Iowa, Physical Education) was second in the weight throw at 52-8 and third in the shot at 46-2.75.
Romel Marzette (Jr., Oskaloosa, Iowa) was second in the long jump at 21-10 and tenth in the 55-meter dash in 6.64 seconds, while Jaylin Thomas (So., Baton Rouge, La.) was fourth in the long jump (21-6.25) and seventh in the 200-meter dash (23.77 seconds).
400-meter dash runners CJ Watts (Jr., Rockville, Md.) (52.72 seconds), Neiman Thompson (Jr., Rockville, Md.) (52.75), and Spencer Medlin (Fr., Oskaloosa, Iowa) (52.81) went seventh through ninth, respectively. Chris Gossett (Fr., Park Forest, Ill., Mechanical Engineering) (seventh, 41-10) and Joshua Rankin (Fr., University Park, Ill., Undecided) (ninth, 40-10.75) gave WPU multiple placers in the triple jump as well.
Charlie Rachford (Fr., Agency, Iowa) was sixth in the 55-meter hurdles (8.39 seconds) to lead the rest of the group. Shot putter Kalob Gist (So., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Business Management) (seventh, 42-9.5), one-mile runner Alex Edwards (Sr., Knoxville, Iowa, Secondary Education) (eighth, 4:38.84), and 600-meter runner Zach Johnson (Fr., Decatur, Ill., Mechanical Engineering) (tenth, 1:30.28) were also in the top ten.
Meaghan Foster (Jr., Centerville, Iowa, Undecided) was the top female at Dubuque with two top-ten efforts. She was fourth in the shot put at 40-2.75 and fifth in the weight throw at 47-9.
Nykitta Williams (Fr., Kileen, Texas) was close behind, placing fifth in the triple jump (34-4.75) and seventh in the long jump. Courtney Dalton (Fr., Posen, Ill.) was twice in the top ten as well, finishing fourth in the 200 (27.93 seconds) and tenth in the 55 (7.80 seconds).
Sixth-place performances were tallied by Kenzie Gunter (Fr., Oskaloosa, Iowa) in the 55 hurdles (9.32 seconds in the prelims, 9.61 in the finals) and Raveen Rhone (Sr., Los Angeles, Calif., Biology) in the triple jump (34-2). Alora Simmons (So., Newton, Iowa, Elementary Education) went home in seventh in the high jump (4-8.25) and Cassandra Kingery (So., Winfield, Iowa, Undecided) managed eighth place in the 55 hurdles (9.58 seconds in the prelim).
On Friday, a handful of jumpers and throwers also competed at the Wartburg Relays. Marzette won the long jump at 21-9.5, while Thomas was fifth at 20-2.5.
Seddon had two bronze finishes (47-1 in the shot and 50-4.5 in the weight throw), while Derek Robinson (Fr., Jenks, Okla.) ended up fifth in the shot (43-1.5) and Gist was ninth (40-9.5). McCastle claimed silver status in the triple jump (43-10.5).
Foster again had two top tens with runner-up showings in the shot (40-2.75) and weight (46-8.75).
Kristin Lastovka (Jr., Brooklyn, Iowa, Business Management) joined Foster in the shot put top ten by taking seventh at 34-3.
Next Up: William Penn travels to Pella next Friday and Saturday for the Central Dutch Athletics Classic.
