Four Titles, Two Records Broken for WPU in Final Prep Before Conference
Grinnell–The Statesmen track and field teams collected four event crowns and also broke two school records as they competed at the Grinnell Darren Young Classic Saturday.
The William Penn men were second out of 10 teams with 108.5 points, while Central edged them out with 113.5 points. WPU’s women were eighth out of nine squads with 22 points; Central completed the sweep with 177.5 points.
Three titles were captured by the men, highlighted by Keaten Griffen (Fr., Longview, Texas) who also broke his own school record. The freshman, whose previous top mark in the pole vault was 13-11.25 from earlier this season, smashed that record with a height of 14-4.5 to lead all competitors.
Tafara Hondonga (Sr., Aberdeen, S.D.) topped all 400-meter dash runners with a time of 50.35 seconds, while Landon Hansen (Sr., Newton, Iowa) won the shot put battle at 47-7.75. Hansen also took 14th in the weight throw (38-7).
The distance medley relay squad matched Griffen with a school record as it took second in a time of 10:30.59. The crew destroyed the old record of 10:59.16, set during the 2013 campaign.
Jasper Stottlemyer (Sr., Council Bluffs, Iowa, Sociology) just missed on gold as he brought home two silvers, doing so in the shot put (45-2.5) and in the weight throw (49-9.75).
Jace Lukefahr (Sr., Newton, Iowa, Mechanical Engineering) and Jeremiah Conteh (Jr., Shorewood, Wis., English) also performed well in the throws. Lukefahr was third in the shot put (44-8.25) and eighth in the weight throw (43-1.5), while Conteh was fourth in the weight throw (47-5.75) and seventh in the shot put (42-7.5).
Like Stottlemyer, Showalter Johnson (So., Nassau, Bahamas, Business Management) was narrowly denied a win, finishing second in the 200-meter dash in 22.468 seconds; the photo finish had him only .005 seconds behind the winner).
Tom Nyandoro (So., Wake Forest, N.C., Computer Science) nabbed another silver as he had a triple jump of 42-4.75. The sophomore was also fourth in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.70 seconds.
Tahj Ferguson (Sr., Hartford, Conn.) had two high showings as well, taking third in the 60-meter dash (7.16) and fourth in the triple jump (37-8.5). Nick Richardson-Jackson (Sr., Germantown, Md.), in 7.21 seconds, and Rayan Antonia (Fr., Willemstad, Curacao), in 7.28, followed Ferguson in the 60.
Eighth-place efforts were earned by Jaden Loveless (So., Des Moines, Iowa, Industrial Technology) in the 400 (53.14) and Riley Humphrey (Fr., Oskaloosa, Iowa) in the long jump (19-3.25).
Raven Williams (Sr., Las Vegas, Nev.) matched her male teammate Hondonga by winning the women’s 400, hitting the line in a time of 1:00.74.
Alexandra Rose (Jr., Quincy, Ill., Exercise Science), in the 60 (8.00), and Erica Martin (Jr., Detroit, Mich.), in the shot put (40.75), were both third in their respective competitions.
Tabitha Rogers (So., Venice, Calif., Elementary Education) was twice in the top half, placing 11th in the 60 (8.40) and 12th in the 200 (28.02). Makailah Kelley (Sr., Canyon Lake, Calif.) was in the top half as well, ending up in 16th in the 200 (28.86).
“This was a great tune-up for our teams,” Head Coach Allen Friesen said. “It is always great to break school records as well.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Maryville, Mo. Friday and Saturday to compete in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship.
