Five Titles Captured at Central Invite
William Penn University Athletics
by Wade Steinlage
Pella–The William Penn indoor track and field teams returned to the site of earlier-season success and again had a plethora of triumphs Saturday as they competed at the Central Athletics Classic.
The Statesmen were originally slated to venture to Dubuque, but poor weather conditions forced them to make the short trip down Highway 163 instead. In the end, the men were fourth with 94 points (Central won with 168 points), while the women were fourth as well with 71 points (Truman-Mo. took the title with 184 points).
The navy and gold men picked up three crowns, while the women had two, but the women tallied several more individuals in the top half of their respective competitions.
Kayla Music (Fr., Corpus Christi, Texas) guided her crew as she topped both the 60-meter dash in 8.05 seconds and the 200-meter dash in 26.73 seconds.
Music was joined by Asia Laudermilch (Jr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Physical Education) (3rd, 8.15), Alexzandrea Woudenberg (So., Ottumwa, Iowa) (5th, 8.31), and Danisha Washington (So., Peoria, Iowa) (6th, 8.32) in the 60 finals, while Raven Williams (Fr., Las Vegas, Nev.) (6th, 28.05), Washington (7th, 28.39), and Woudenberg (8th, 28.49) joined her in the top eight in the 200.
Becky Cleppe (Jr., St. Petersburg, Fla., Physical Education) picked up a pair of solid placings in the throws, finishing sixth in the shot put at 33-3 and seventh in the weight throw at 40-1.
Talaysia Douver (Fr., Lakewood, Calif.) headlined a long list of individuals who also produced strong efforts; the freshman was third in the 3,000-meter run in a time of 12:09.38.
Shelbie Williams (So., Hedrick, Iowa, Elementary Education) was next, taking fourth in the shot at 39-8.5. Madison Udy (Fr., American Falls, Idaho, Exercise Science), in the 3,000 in 12:17.10, and Elayna VanArsdale (Jr., Bensalem, Pa., Secondary Education), in the weight throw at 44-5, were both fifth.
Ayanna Lavalais (So., Seguin, Texas) also finished seventh in the shot (31-4).
Joel Brown (Fr., Columbus, Ga.), Mofiyinfoluwa Alade (So., Hoffman Estates, Ill.), and Sage Ehresman (Jr., Sully, Iowa, Exercise Science) all took home gold in an event Saturday. Brown did so in the long jump at 21-0.5, while Alade was best in the high jump at 6-6.75. Ehresman posted the longest shot at 51-0.
Brown recorded a trio of top showings, also placing second in the 60 (7.07) and fourth in the 200 (23.56). Alade managed bronze in the 60-meter hurdles (8.97) as well.
Seth Davis (Jr., Farmerville, Texas) matched Brown by scoring points in three separate events. The junior was fourth in the long jump (20-1.75), fifth in the 400-meter dash (53.46), and seventh in the 200 (24.01).
Michael Hubbard (Sr., Gary, Ind., Exercise Science) notched two top-half finishes in the sprints, taking fifth in the 200 at 23.65 and ninth in the 60 at 7.25.
Kenneth Bolton III (Fr., South Riding, Va.) earned a runner-up performance by completing the 800-meter run in a time of 2:01.75. Andrew Leverette (So., Fort Worth, Texas) was sixth in the 60-hurdles (9.48), while Michael Cornish (Fr., Kempner, Texas) was eighth in the 200 (24.50).
“Today was a good day for both of our teams,” Head Coach Allen Friesen said. “I am very proud of how both squads performed, highlighted by the first time in my tenure that we had four women in the 60-meter finals. We had lots of Statesmen in the finals today, which was very exciting.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Grinnell next Saturday to compete in the Grinnell Invitational.
