Men Third, Women Fifth at Outdoor Championships
William Penn University Athletics
Des Moines–A number of great showings guided the William Penn track and field squads at the Midwest Collegiate Conference Outdoor Championships Thursday through Saturday.
The Statesmen men were third with 167 points, while the women finished fifth with 55.5 points. St. Ambrose swept the titles with 253 points on both sides.
Cornelius McCastle (So., McKinney, Texas, Industrial Technology) topped the men as he was named MCC Co-Field Athlete of the Year. The sophomore won the high jump at 6-8 and was also second in the triple jump (46-1.25) and third in the long jump (22-9). It is his second AOY award of his career (both this year). He shared this honor with Keegan Bludworth of Viterbo.
Eight of his teammates also scored points in multiple events. Derek Seddon (So., Knoxville, Iowa, Physical Education) was equally impressive, headlined by a school-record and winning discus toss of 175-1. He was also third in the shot put (46-8) and fourth in the hammer (154-5).
Romel Marzette (Jr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Sociology) and his third place in the 100-meter dash (10.85 seconds) was his best event. The junior was fifth in the triple jump at 43-11.25 and eighth in the long jump (21-0.5) as well.
Fellow sprinter Neiman Thompson (Jr., Rockville, Md., Physical Education) posted three high showings, including second in the 400 (49.17) and fifth in both the 100 (11.11) and 200 (22.56).
CJ Watts (Jr., Rockville, Md., Physical Education), who was fourth in the 400 (49.54) and seventh in the 200 (23.15), was one of a handful of Statesmen athletes to post two scoring efforts.
Ochaung Akway (Sr., St. Paul, Minn., Physical Education) did so with silver in the 10,000-meter run in 34:14.04 and bronze in the 5,000 in 16:11.30.
Van Love-Scott (Sr., Detroit, Mich., Education) (2nd in the javelin, 164-0; 7th in the triple jump, 41-10.5) and Kalob Gist (So., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Business Management) (2nd in the shot put, 46-11.5; 7th in the hammer, 130-3) both posted points in two events each.
Yonas Desta (So., Salt Lake City, Utah, Biology), however, had to be the biggest two-event scorer, joining McCastle and Seddon in the winner’s circle. Desta claimed the 5,000-meter run title in 15:50.96, while also taking fourth in the 1,500 at 4:13.02.
Payton Busch (So., Centerville, Iowa, Secondary Education) was another scorer in the 1,500 (6th, 4:18.57), while Jaylin Thomas (So., Baton Rouge, La., Biology) was the long jump runner-up at 22-10.5.
On the hurdling side, Markenson Charles (So., Lehigh Acres, Fla., Industrial Technology) was second in the 110-meter hurdles in 16.17 seconds and Spencer Medlin (Fr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Secondary Education) finished fifth in the 400 (58.99).
WPU’s relays posted big points, paced by the 4×400-meter squad hauling in silver in a time of 3:22.57. The 4×1 (43.87) and 4×8 (8:20.74) were both fourth at the Championships.
Keonte White of Grand View was tabbed as MCC Track Athlete of the Year, while St. Ambrose’s Dan Tomlin won the Coach of the Year honor.
Tarah Alexander (Jr., Cedar, Iowa, Physical Education) paced the women’s efforts as she was the lone event champion. The junior took the 800-meter run crown in 2:17.46 and was also seventh in the pole vault at 8-0.5.
Meaghan Foster (Jr., Centerville, Iowa, Physical Education) earned two high placings as well, taking third in the shot put (42-4) and eighth in the hammer (132-11).
Emma Hoerr (Jr., Chillicothe, Ill., Physical Education) also contributed points in the throws with bronze in the discus at 134-8.
Alyssa Phillips (So., Gurnee, Ill., Communications) (4-11 in the high jump) and Whitley Schertz (Sr., Eddyville, Iowa, Exercise Science) (8-6.25 in the pole vault) were both fourth over the weekend. Alora Simmons (Jr., Newton, Iowa, Elementary Education) added another scorer in the high jump, taking seventh at 4-9.
Distance runner Guadalupe Gonzalez (Fr., Houston, Texas, Exercise Science) (7th in the 5,000, 20:23.34), sprinter Courtney Dalton (Fr., Posen, Ill., Biology) (8th in the 200, 28.56), and hurdler Kenzie Gunter (Fr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Business Management & Psychology) (5th in the 100 hurdles, 16.38) helped WPU’s efforts as well.
The relays were point-gatherers too with the 4×400 (4:19.33) and 4×800 (10:38.91) placing fifth and the 4×100 (53.41) crossing the line in sixth place.
Molly Jo Smith of St. Ambrose was named MCC Track Athlete of the Year, while Grand View’s Val Veiock received the Field AOY accolade. Tomlin finished off the COY sweep with the women’s honor.
Next Up: William Penn will compete in a Last Chance Meet next Saturday at an event yet to be determined.
