Three Win Titles at Heart Championships
William Penn University Athletics
by Wade Steinlage
Baldwin City, Kan.–Headlined by a trio of event crowns, the Statesmen track and field teams gave it a solid go as they competed at the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championships Friday and Saturday.
The men were seventh with 49 points, while Grand View took the title with 158 points. On the women’s side, WPU was 10th with 25 points; MidAmerica Nazarene topped the standings with 171.5 points.
Shelbie Williams (So., Hedrick, Iowa, Elementary Education) and Vashti Nwagbaraocha (Jr., Milwaukee, Wis., Exercise Science) guided the women by winning their first-ever conference titles, while Derek Robinson (Sr., Jenks, Okla., Communications) led the men by also claiming the first league win of his career.
Williams grabbed the shot put victory at 41-6, giving the navy and gold women their fourth shot put conference title ever and their first since 2013.
Nwagbaraocha finished with the best high jump at 5-5; it is WPU’s first crown in the event since 2007 and fifth all-time.
The titles are the first for William Penn’s women since 2016.
Robinson highlighted a busy day by placing first in the hammer throw at 182-11. The win is WPU’s second in a row in the hammer and second all-time.
The senior had three other top-10 efforts, including placing fourth in the discus (150-6), seventh in the javelin (163-8), and 10th in the shot put (44-1.5).
Mofiyinfoluwa Alade (Fr., Hoffman Estates, Ill.) narrowly missed gold of his own, earning runner-up honors in the high jump at 6-7.5. Tristen Elmore (So., Ovied, Fla., Physical Education) scored points in the event as well, taking seventh at 6-1.5.
Bronze finishes came from both Tyler Albert (Jr., Eldon, Iowa, Engineering Technology) in the javelin at 176-1 and Brenden Foster (So., Rock Hill, S.C., Biology) in the 110-meter hurdles in a time of 15.44 seconds.
William Penn’s 4×100-meter relay team was fourth in 43.09 seconds, while Seth Davis (So., Farmerville, Texas) placed seventh in the 400-meter hurdles in 58.88 seconds.
Malik Williams (Fr., Kansas City, Mo., Industrial Technology) joined Robinson as a discus point-scorer as he was eighth at 142-11. Michael Hubbard (Jr., Gary, Ind., Exercise Science) was also eighth in the 100-meter dash (11.30), while the 4×400-meter relay crew notched a point as well in a time of 3:31.49.
Becky Cleppe (So., St. Petersburg, Fla., Physical Education) collected two points for taking seventh in the women’s hammer (139-6) and so did Bree’Anna Lee (So., Broken Arrow, Okla., Biology) in the 5,000-meter race walk (35:07.38). The 4×1 squad was also eighth in a time of 51.51 seconds.
Elayna VanArsdale (So., Bensalem, Pa., Secondary Education) almost added to the Statesmen’s final tally, ending up ninth in the discus at 113-10.
“Our athletes were amazing the entire weekend,” Head Coach Allen Friesen said. “They all knew the hill they had to climb and they attacked with everything they had. It was a great couple days for our Statesmen!”
Next Up: William Penn will send a select few individuals to a last-chance meet next weekend.
