Boma Qualifies Twice in Last Chance Meet
William Penn University Athletics
Charleston, Ill.–Jamal Boma (Sr., Des Moines, Iowa, Business Management and Physical Education) kept his best performances for the last week of the regular season as the William Penn track and field teams competed at the Eastern Illinois Friday Night Special.
Boma not only won the 3,000 and 5,000-meter run competitions, but did so with school record-breaking and, more importantly, national-qualifying times. The senior, who hit the ‘B’ standard in both events, finished the 3K in 8:42.61 and the 5K in 15:14.04.
Boma will join Tristen Elmore (Fr., Ovied, Fla., Physical Education) (high jump, long jump) and Derek Seddon (Sr., Knoxville, Iowa, Physical Education) (shot put, weight throw) at the NAIA National Championships on March 2-4 in Johnson City, Tenn.
Asia Laudermilch (Fr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Physical Education) also snapped a program record in the 60-meter dash as she placed third in 7.90 seconds.
Payton Busch (Sr., Centerville, Iowa, Secondary Education) matched Boma with an event win, taking the 1,000-meter run title in 2:34.68. He was seventh in the 800-meter run as well (1:58.93).
Marcus Hastings (So., North Las Vegas, Nev., Sociology) was also a two-time top-10 finisher, ending up seventh in the long jump (21-6.25) and ninth in the high jump (6-0).
Kewan Slaton (Fr., Lakeland, Tenn., Computer Science) earned the bronze in the 400-meter dash (52.03 seconds), while Zack Johnson (Jr., Decatur, Ill., Mechanical Engineering) placed fourth in the 1,000 (2:47.29).
Elmore was also seventh (200-meter dash, 22.88), and Markenson Charles (Sr., Lehigh Acres, Fla., Industrial Technology) (60-meter hurdles, 8.85) and Derek Robinson (Jr., Jenks, Okla., Communications) (weight throw, 51-3) were both ninth at the meet.
“Jamal had a tremendous day and several others either broke school records or were right on the verge of also qualifying,” Head Coach Allen Friesen said. “We fought hard and gave a great effort to end the indoor regular season.”
