Fast Times for Statesmen at Seminole Valley Stampede
Cedar Rapids–Season and personal bests abounded Saturday as the William Penn cross country teams competed at the Seminole Valley Stampede hosted by Mount Mercy.
The Statesmen men were ninth out of 20 teams with 275 points, while host Mount Mercy won the title with 74 points. Donovan Denslow of Missouri Baptist was the first to cross the line in the 8K race in 24:43.5.
WPU finished 11th out of 16 teams on the women’s side with 288 points. Missouri Baptist earned the title with 66 points, holding off Viterbo by one point.
Deanna Newhouse of MMU won the individual crown on the 5K course in 18:19.9.
Every single Statesmen harrier posted either a season best, or for most, a personal best at the Stampede.
Max Finley (Fr., Richville, N.Y., Secondary Education) topped the William Penn men in 16th place (174 total runners) at 26:43.0.
Brandon Williams (So., Fountain, Colo., Civil Engineering) was also in the top 25 at 25th with a time of 26:57.7, while Jonah Heckenberg (Jr., Stockport, Iowa, Business Management) finished off WPU’s Big Three as he was 34th in 27:09.5.
Rashad Felder (Fr., Cookeville, Tenn., Software Engineering), in 129th at 30:02.5, and Asarel Paez-Teran (So., Aberdeen, Wash., Exercise Science), in 134th at 30:08.2, wrapped up the William Penn scoring.
Chace Hamilton (So., Melrose, Iowa, Undecided) led the remainder of the men with a time of 31:18.8 (148th).
The women were bunched up much tighter, being separated by just 50 places. Elizabeth Hele (Sr., Victorville, Calif., Biology) headlined the crew by taking 52nd out of 145 competitors in a time of 20:52.6.
Delana Jordan (Sr., Addison, Texas., Business Management) was next in 63rd (21:09.3), while Michaela Kmiec (Sr., Centerville, Texas., Exercise Science) was 70th (21:25.3).
Ameline Garza (Fr., Edinburg, Texas, Sociology) crossed the line at 21:55.3 for 82nd, and Roselaure Fuller (So., Pella, Iowa, Nursing) closed out the team’s scoring in 102nd place (22:50.8).
“With perfect weather and wind, and a very flat and fast course, it was the perfect recipe for fast times,” Head Coach Caleb Drake said. “We executed our race plans very well. My hope is that we come away from this race with renewed confidence in ourselves. I am proud of what we did, but am not satisfied. I hope our athletes feel the same and are hungry to improve and break through their next goals.”
Next Up: William Penn takes a week off before traveling to Yankton, S.D. on October 22 for the Mount Marty Invitational to conclude the regular season.
