Alexander, Foster Qualify at MCC Championships
William Penn University Athletics
Rock Island/Sterling, Ill.–By competing in numerous events, typically the league meet is not the best venue for national-qualifying performances to be had, but two of William Penn’s best did not see it that way as they punched their tickets at the Midwest Collegiate Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships Friday and Saturday.
Tarah Alexander (Jr., Cedar, Iowa, Physical Education) and Meaghan Foster (Jr., Centerville, Iowa, Undecided) each eclipsed the ‘B’ standard in their events to advance to the NAIA National Championships next month. Their efforts helped WPU to 35 points as the team finished sixth in the sixth-team standings. St. Ambrose won the crown with 238 points.
Alexander won the 800-meter run crown by breaking her own school record in a time of 2:20.05, while Foster was second in the shot put by also snapping her program mark at 42-6.
Foster also had a top 10 in the weight throw, finishing ninth at 46-7.5.
Raveen Rhone (Sr., Los Angeles, Calif., Biology) and Nykitta Williams (Fr., Kileen, Texas) gave the Statesmen two scorers in the triple jump as Rhone was third at 34-9.75 and Williams was fifth at 34-0. Rhone took 10th in the long jump as well (15-6.75).
Cassandra Kingery (So., Winfield, Iowa, Communications) scored solid points in the 60-meter hurdles with a fourth-place finish in 9.48 seconds, while eighth-place showings came from Alora Simmons (Jr., Newton, Iowa, Elementary Education) in the high jump (4-9.75) and Whitley Schertz (Sr., Eddyville, Iowa, Exercise Science) in the pole vault (7-3.75).
Addison Kepner (Jr., Cincinnati, Iowa, Biology) narrowly missed scoring for WPU in the one-mile run, taking ninth in 5:49.34. Courtney Dalton (Fr., Posen, Ill.) and Deja Lewis (So., Spring, Texas, Psychology) were both tenth at the Championships. Dalton crossed the 200-meter dash line in 27.42 seconds and Lewis had a 3,000-meter run time of 11:51.30.
“I am so proud of our team,” Head Coach Allen Friesen said. “They performed really well this weekend and continue to improve. Getting Tarah and Meaghan to qualify adds to the great year we have had so far.”
