Trio Qualify in Last Chances
William Penn University Athletics
Cedar Falls/Waverly–The Statesmen men’s indoor track and field team still had a little left in the tank this weekend as three more individuals qualified for nationals.
On Friday, Derek Seddon (So., Knoxville, Iowa, Physical Education) hit the mark in the weight throw at the UNI Panther Open, while on Saturday at the Wartburg Invitational Cornelius McCastle (So., McKinney, Texas, Industrial Technology) added triple jump to his list and CJ Watts (Jr., Rockville, Md.) joined the party in the 400-meter dash.
Seddon eclipsed the NAIA’s ‘B’ standard with a new school-record toss of 54-10.25 (placed fourth). McCastle, who had already qualified in the high jump, won the triple jump with an ‘A’ length of 47-3. Watts matched Seddon with a program record of his own, finishing second in a ‘B’ standard time of 49.54 seconds.
Also at UNI:
Romel Marzette (Jr., Oskaloosa, Iowa) was twice in the top 10, taking fourth in the 60-meter dash (7.03 seconds) and sixth in the long jump (20-9.25).
Cornelius McCastle (So., McKinney, Texas, Industrial Technology) finished third in the long at 21-11.5, while Jaylin Thomas (So., Baton Rouge, La.) was fourth at 21-7.5.
Markenson Charles (So., Lehigh Acres, Fla., Industrial Technology), who was sixth in the 60-meter hurdles (8.69 seconds) and Kalob Gist (So., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Business Management), who was seventh in the shot put (45-9.25), also participated Friday.
Also at Wartburg:
Marzette had three high finishes by winning the 60 in 7.01 seconds, taking fourth in the triple at 44-2, and ending up seventh in the long at 19-9.5.
McCastle also topped the long jump field at 22-4.5, while Charlie Rachford (Fr., Agency, Iowa) posted a bronze finish in the 60-meter hurdles (8.87). Ochaung Akway (Sr., St. Paul, Minn., Physical Education) hit the line in a time of 9:25.25, good for fifth in the 3,000-meter run. Gist placed sixth in the shot put at 44-10.25.
Meaghan Foster (Jr., Centerville, Iowa, Undecided) was WPU’s lone female in competition as she tried to better her distances in the throws. On Friday, she was third in the shot put (39-4.5) and sixth in the weight throw (44-6), while on Saturday she finished sixth in the shot (39-7) and 10th in the weight (44-7).
WPU will send a sizeable contingency to nationals next month in Geneva, Ohio. In addition to this weekend’s qualifiers, Alex Edwards (Sr., Knoxville, Iowa, Elementary Education) (400, 600, 800, 1,000), McCastle (high jump), Tarah Alexander (Jr., Cedar, Iowa, Physical Education) (800), and Foster (shot put) have also qualified for a total number of ten qualifying efforts.
