Two All-Americans for WPU

William Penn University Athletics

Geneva, Ohio–The Statesmen indoor track and field teams followed up a very strong first day with solid results on the second day as the NAIA National Championships concluded Saturday.

Alex Edwards (Sr., Knoxville, Iowa, Elementary Education) and CJ Watts (Jr., Rockville, Md., Physical Education) were both seeking individual titles, but came up a bit short–not at all for lack of trying though.

Edwards entered Saturday’s 600-meter run final with the top qualifying time and almost broke his own school record again. Unfortunately, it was not enough as his time of 1:18.38 placed him fourth. The winning time of 1:16.72 came from Oklahoma Baptist’s Travis Hinton. Edwards is now a two-time All-American after taking fifth last year in the same event.

Watts was successful in snapping his own 400-meter run school mark just moments before his teammate’s race, but again the field was too strong for the junior. He placed eighth in a time of 48.53 seconds to claim his first All-America accolade. Phoenix Miller of Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) was the champion in 47.20 seconds.

William Penn now has ten male All-Americans in its history.

Cornelius McCastle (So., McKinney, Texas, Industrial Technology) was also back in action Saturday, competing in the triple jump. The sophomore hit a mark of 43-8.5 to take 18th out of 20 competitors.

Meaghan Foster (Jr., Centerville, Iowa, Undecided) made her 2015 nationals debut as well, placing 16th out of 26 individuals in the shot put with a distance of 42-2.25.

Recapping Friday’s efforts, McCastle was ninth in the high jump at 6-8.25, while Derek Seddon (So., Knoxville, Iowa, Physical Education) finished 11th in the weight throw at 54-4. Tarah Alexander (Jr., Cedar, Iowa, Physical Education) placed 18th in the 800-meter run in a time of 2:21.74.

“With two All-Americans and two school records, it was definitely a great weekend,” Head Coach Allen Friesen said. “The fact that we had so many improvements at nationals shows how hard our athletes and their coaches worked. I am very proud of our team.”