Freshman Breaks Record in Season Opener for T&F Teams
William Penn University Athletics
by Wade Steinlage
Davenport–Kayla Music (Fr., Corpus Christi, Texas) made history right out of the gate Saturday as she paced the William Penn indoor track and field teams at the season-opening Frozen Bee Classic hosted by St. Ambrose.
Music broke the school record in the 60-meter dash with a winning time of 7.89 seconds, clipping the previous record of 7.90 set by teammate Asia Laudermilch (Jr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Physical Education) two years ago.
Her efforts helped the Statesmen to third place out of five teams with 74 points, while host St. Ambrose won the crown with 165 points.
Shelbie Williams (So., Hedrick, Iowa, Elementary Education) had the next-best finish, taking second in the shot put at 39-10.5. Fellow thrower Elayna VanArsdale (Jr., Bensalem, Pa., Secondary Education) claimed a pair of top-five placings as she was third in the weight throw (47-3) and fourth in the shot (36-8.5).
Imani Welch (Sr., St. Louis, Mo., Sports and Management Recreation) joined Music as a high placer in the 60, taking fourth in 8.25 seconds. Alexzandrea Woudenberg (Fr., Ottumwa, Iowa) was strong in the sprints as well, ending up sixth in the 200-meter dash in 27.92 seconds.
Katherine Hunter (Fr., Bloomfield, Iowa) headlined the navy and gold hurdlers as she was fifth in the 60-meter hurdles in 9.97 seconds (9.82 in the prelims), while Laudermilch had the best jumper of the day, taking sixth in the long jump at 16-4.5.
The William Penn men had a plethora of strong performances, leading to a silver in the team standings with 132.5 points. SAU wrapped up its sweep of the titles with 161 points.
Three Statesmen produced gold for WPU, including Mofiyinfoluwa Alade (So., Hoffman Estates, Ill.), Tristen Elmore (Jr., Ovied, Fla., Physical Education), and Sage Ehresman (Jr., Sully, Iowa, Exercise Science).
Alade shared the high jump crown at 6-4.25, Elmore was the top 200 runner in 22.77 seconds, and Ehresman earned the shot put title at 48-2.75.
Alade, in a time of 9.13 seconds in the 60 hurdles (8.84 in the prelims), and Elmore, 6-4.25 in the high jump, took home third-place efforts Saturday as well.
Seth Davis (Jr., Farmerville, Texas) joined Alade and Elmore with a pair of point-gathering showings. The junior was sixth in the 200 (24.06) and eighth in the long jump (20-3.75).
Distance runners Joshua Williams (Fr., Atlanta, Ga.), who finished the one-mile run in 4:53.68, and David Perry (Fr., Sierra Vista, Ariz., Business Management), who crossed the 3,000-meter run finish line in 9:54.48, were both second in their respective races.
Third-place efforts came from Joel Brown (Fr., Columbus, Ga.) in the 400-meter run (52.06) and Loys Parker (Fr., St. Louis, Mo.) in the triple jump (42-2.25), while Michael Hubbard (Sr., Gary, Ind., Exercise Science) (7.20 in the 60) and Kenneth Bolton III (Fr., South Riding, Va.) (2:01.24 in the 800-meter run) were both fourth.
Dorian Allen (Fr., Fort Worth, Texas) was another high placer for the navy and gold in the 60, taking sixth in 7.38 seconds.
“This is the strongest first-meet performance we have had in a long time,” Head Coach Allen Friesen said. “I am extremely excited to see what our athletes can do in the weeks to come.”
Next Up: William Penn is off until after the New Year, traveling to Crete, Neb. on January 12 to compete in the Ward Haylett Invitational hosted by Doane.
