Harrier Squads Finish Regular Season Against Strong NAIA Field
William Penn Athletics
Cedar Rapids–In preparations for next month’s league championships, the William Penn cross country teams faced their stiffest NAIA competition at the NAIA Seminole Valley Stampede hosted by Mount Mercy Saturday.
The Statesmen men finished 14th out of 21 teams with 407 points, while Saint Mary (Kan.) topped the men’s race with 45 points. Daniel Garcia of Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) was the best runner on the 8K course (182 athletes) with a time of 25:00.
The WPU women’s crew placed 18th out of 20 teams with 450 points; St. Francis (Ill.) won the women’s competition (52 points). Ellie Willging of Saint Xavier (Ill.) had the fastest 5K time (162 runners) at 17:59.
As he has all year, Ochaung Akway (Sr., St. Paul, Minn., Physical Education) paced the navy and gold in 34th place at 26:34.
Payton Busch (Jr., Centerville, Iowa, Secondary Education) led a quartet of runners who also crossed the line under 30 minutes; Busch was 95th at 28:18. Garrett Heckman (So., New Virginia, Iowa, Mechanical Engineering) (102nd, 28:34), Zach Johnson (So., Decatur, Ill., Mechanical Engineering) (113th, 28:55), and Brenice Ndayizeye (Sr., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Computer Science) (129th, 29:45) joined Akway and Busch in that sub-half hour group.
Tian Siggins (Jr., Atlantic, Iowa, Physical Education), in 149th (30:38), and Amani Richardson (So., Carrollton, Va., Exercise Science), in 156th (31:06), also ran Saturday.
On the women’s side, the trio of Addison Kepner (Sr., Cincinnati, Iowa, Biology) (64th, 20:41), Deja Lewis (Jr., Spring, Texas, Psychology) (68th, 20:44), and Guadalupe Gonzalez (So., Houston, Texas, Exercise Science) (80th, 20:59) ran well in a tight pack, separated by just 18 seconds.
Destiny Galvin (Fr., Galesburg, Ill., Undecided) was 157th (24:25) and Arianna Davis (So., New Sharon, Iowa, Biology) was 158th (24:40) to also help the women’s score.
“We had a solid day against a great field,” Coach Sean Gosewisch said. “Hopefully, we will take this into a good showing at conference in two weeks.”
Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa on November 7 to host the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championships at the Lacey Recreation Complex.
