Thompson Wins Twice, Men Place Second at Grinnell Invite
William Penn University Athletics
Grinnell–It their final tune-ups for the league championships, the Statesmen indoor track and field teams posted over a handful of season bests at the Grinnell Invitational Saturday.
The William Penn men were second out of 15 teams with 76 points (Simpson won with 95), while the women were 11th of 14 squads with 19 points (Grand View won with 77).
While no new names were added to the national-qualifying list, a number of the Statesmen came close to punching their tickets.
Neiman Thompson (Sr., Rockville, Md., Physical Education) had unquestionably the best day by sprinting to gold in the 200 (22.72 seconds) and 400-meter dash (50.24 seconds) events.
Cornelius McCastle (Jr., McKinney, Texas, Industrial Technology) went to work in three competitions and had his best showing in the high jump by finishing second at 6-3.25. The junior was also fifth in the 200 in 23.18 seconds and sixth in the triple jump at 43-5.25.
CJ Watts (Sr., Rockville, Md., Physical Education), in sixth (23.31), and Michael Hubbard (Fr., Gary, Ind., Exercise Science), in 10th (23.71), were in the 200’s top-10 as well. Watts was also runner-up to Thompson in the 400 in 50.59 seconds.
Silvers were obtained by Amani Richardson (So., Carrollton, Va., Exercise Science) in the 600-meter run (1:26.55) and Payton Busch (Jr., Centerville, Iowa, Secondary Education) in the 800 (1:57.12), while Derek Seddon (Jr., Knoxville, Iowa, Physical Education) left the Invitational with a pair of bronze efforts in the shot put (50-6.25) and weight throw (55-11.75). Kalob Gist (Sr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Business Management) was just two notches below Seddon in the shot put with a mark of 48-2.5.
60-meter dash runner Malik Brown (So., Long Beach, Calif., Psychology) placed fourth in 7.22 seconds, while Earl George (Jr., Gaithersburg, Md., Biology) managed seventh place in the long jump with a length of 19-11.5.
Markenson Charles (Jr., Lehigh Acres, Fla., Industrial Technology) (fifth, 8.88 seconds) and Tyler Albert (Fr., Eldon, Iowa, Engineering Technology) (ninth, 9.38) were both in the top 10 in the 60-meter hurdles as well.
Tarah Alexander (Sr., Cedar, Iowa, Physical Education) paced the women as she finished second in the 800 in 2:22.24.
Meaghan Foster (Sr., Centerville, Iowa, Physical Education) matched Seddon with two high showings in the throws; the senior was third in the shot put at 41-5 and fourth in the weight throw at 49-5.75. Kristin Lastovka (Sr., Brooklyn, Iowa, Business Management) joined her as a point-getter in the shot put (sixth, 38-6).
Alora Simmons (Sr., Newton, Iowa, Elementary Education) picked up a point by placing eighth in the high jump at 4-10.25.
“We needed to improve in several events today to get more individuals in the conference meet and our athletes did not disappoint,” Head Coach Allen Friesen said. “They were hungry and it showed.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Crete, Neb. next Saturday and Sunday to compete in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Indoor Championships.
