Seddon Collects Weight Throw All-America Award

William Penn University Athletics

Johnson City, Tenn.–William Penn’s trio of national qualifiers came up a bit short of some lofty expectations, but still put up great performances nonetheless as they competed at the NAIA Indoor Track and Field National Championships this weekend.

Derek Seddon (Sr., Knoxville, Iowa, Physical Education) guided the Statesmen as he claimed All-America status, finishing fifth in the weight throw with a distance of 62-4.75. The throw, which was 1.25 inches shy of his school record, earned the senior his third career All-America honor, having also garnered that accolade in the indoor shot put and outdoor discus last year.

The award extends WPU’s streak to five-consecutive national meets with an A-A recipient.

Seddon also competed in the shot put, ending up 13th at 50-5.

It was a story of near misses for William Penn’s other national qualifiers as Tristen Elmore (Fr., Ovied, Fla., Physical Education) and Jamal Boma (Sr., Des Moines, Iowa, Business Management and Physical Education) came up a bit short of getting onto the podium.

Elmore was one spot out in the high jump, taking ninth at 6-7. The freshman was 10th in the long jump as well at 22-10.5.

Boma crossed the line in the 3,000-meter run in 10th place at 8:47.05, while ending up 11th in the 5,000-meter race in 15:23.44.

Both individuals competed in both of their events on the same day.

“We set the bar really high this week and came up just short,” Head Coach Allen Friesen said. “We had a tremendous indoor campaign and look to build on this momentum for a great outdoor season.”

As a team, WPU finished 41st with four points; Indiana Tech rolled to the team crown with 118 points.