#5 Story from 2015-2016
William Penn University Athletics
The William Penn Sports Information office is counting them down once again! Starting today, we will look back at the top 5 stories from the 2015-2016 school year, beginning with the highlights of many of our sports teams.
The Honorable-Mentions
–Baseball claimed yet another winning record with the help of first-team all-Heart of America Athletic Conference performers Dylan McDonald and Anthony York.
–Men’s bowling earned its seventh-straight trip to sectionals. Jacques Kaune paced the squad, including winning the first two tournaments of the season. Stephanie Adams was even better for the ladies, receiving Second-Team All-America laurels from the NAIA. The women made their eighth-consecutive trip to the sectional tournament.
–Ochaung Akway qualified for NAIA Cross Country Nationals for the second year in a row. On the women’s side, the trio of Addison Kepner, Guadalupe Gonzalez, and Deja Lewis all paced the harrier squad at at least one event in the fall.
–The football team entered the final Saturday of the season with a chance to win the North Division and claim a playoff berth. The team had to settle for a strong 7-4 campaign and 15 all-conference individuals.
–Spencer Skipper’s third-place finish at the Heart Men’s Golf Championships pushed the Statesmen high onto the leaderboard.
–Guided by a four-game winning streak to open Heart action, the men’s soccer team began the campaign at 7-3-1 and eventually qualified for the Heart Tournament. First-team all-Heart awards went to Randolph Tamba and Angelo Kelly.
–Derek Seddon and a large group of other navy and gold track and field competitors qualified for nationals in 14 different events this past year. Seddon highlighted the performances by winning All-America awards in the shot put (indoor) and discus (outdoor). A dozen school records fell between the men’s and women’s programs.
–John Altieri was both an all-Heart honoree as well as a national qualifier for the WPU wrestling team.
–All-American Alyssa Phillips and fellow all-conference performer Vashti Nwagbaraocha piloted William Penn in the NAIA’s toughest conference. The Statesmen finished seventh and gave the eventual national champion quite a run in the league tourney.
–The competitive dance team placed high enough at regionals to earn an appearance at the NAIA Invitational.
–Alyce Correia and Silvia Munoz, both of whom were second-team all-Heart recipients, led William Penn to a strong start at 4-2.
–Kodee Johnson and Chyanne Koko each collected second-team all-Heart accolades for the softball squad.
–Volleyball stars Leyra Jusino and Savanna Hartman notched all-Heart awards back in the fall.
