Cross Country Competes at Luther
William Penn University Athletics
Decorah–The William Penn cross country teams headed north and faced stiff in-state and regional competition at the Luther All-American Invitational Saturday.
On the men’s side, William Penn was 15th out of 17 teams with 429 points. Wisconsin-La Crosse nipped Augustana (Ill.) by one point, 66-67, for the men’s title. Iowa Central CC took its second-straight crown on the women’s side with 53 points. William Penn did not field a women’s team.
Individually, Jack Deichert of Hamline (Minn.) won the men’s four-mile race by one second in a time of 20:34, while Obsie Birru of Grand View was an easy winner of the women’s five-kilometer event in a time of 18:19
Nick Reynolds (Sr., Riverton, Utah, Iowa Western CC) headlined the navy and gold effort, finishing 100th (out of 278 runners) with a time of 22:43.
Blake Washington (So., Knoxville, Knoxville HS) was not far behind, placing 128th at 23:04.
Nick Thomas (Fr., Salmon, Idaho, Salmon HS) also broke the 24-minute mark, in 154th place at 23:24.
Deane Wichelt (Fr., Durant, Durant HS) was the next Statesmen finisher, taking place #203 with a time of 24:24. Cameron Pittman (So., Carl Junction, Mo., Carl Junction HS) rounded out the team’s scoring as he was 253rd overall at 26:06.
Quintin Marshall (So., St. Louis, Mo., McCluer South Berkeley HS), in 263rd with a time of 27:10, and Donovan DeVore (Sr., Wilton, Wilton HS), in 273rd with a time of 29:45, also competed for William Penn at the All-American.
Kyra English (So., Draper, Utah, Alta HS) was the best Lady Statesmen runner Saturday, crossing the line in 131st place (out of 215 runners) with a time of 22:08.
Morgan Avery (Sr., Minot, N.D., Iowa Western CC) also broke inside the top 200, taking 195th at 24:38.
Sade Myers (Fr., Honolulu, Hawaii, Radford HS), in 212th at 27:18, and Rachel Skinner (So., Felicity, Ohio, Ripley HS), in 213th at 30:29, went back-to-back to finish out William Penn’s competitors.
Next: William Penn travels to Ames next Saturday to compete in the Iowa Intercollegiate Championships hosted by Iowa State.
