Higginbotham, West Earn Crowns at Grinnell
Grinnell–The William Penn men’s indoor track and field team collected a pair of event titles as it competed at the Grinnell Invitational Saturday.
William Penn finished fifth out of 13 teams with 68 points, while host Grinnell claimed the trophy with 135 points.
Xzavion West (Sr., Guthrie, Ky., Psychology) continued his dominance by winning the weight throw at 58-11.25, while taking second in the shot put at 50-6.75.
Koby Higginbotham (Fr., Knoxville, Iowa, Exercise Science) matched his senior teammate in the winner’s circle, opening his collegiate career by topping the 60-meter hurdles standings in 8.04 seconds. The freshman eclipsed the ‘B’ standard, joining West and Youssef Hamed (Jr., Al Wakrah, Qatar, Business Management) as NAIA national qualifiers.
Gavin Huff (Jr., Mascoutah, Ill., Mechanical Engineering) was next for the navy and gold as he placed second in the one-mile run in 4:26.20, while ending up eighth in the 800-meter run in 2:03.07.
Sean Knockel (Sr., New Sharon, Iowa, Physical Education) also found himself on the podium, finishing third in the 400-meter dash in 51.34 seconds.
A trio of Statesmen placed fourth Saturday, including Myrhon Addison (Fr., Glennville, Ga., Sports Management) in the shot put (48-5.25). He was also 10th in the weight throw at 53-8.25.
Kenna Taylor (Fr., St. Petersburg, Fla., Business Management) was fourth as well in the 60-meter dash (6.84), while Fredrick Kolla Nguimdo (Jr., Wheaton, Md., Secondary Education) accomplished the fourth-place feat in the weight throw (48-8.75).
Youssef Hamed (Jr., Al Wakrah, Qatar, Business Management) qualified fourth in the 60 (6.96), but finished eighth in the finals.
Damarius Parker (Fr., Des Moines, Iowa, General Accounting), who was fifth in the 400 (51.81), and Carson Springer (Jr., Grimes, Iowa, Business Management), who was sixth in the 5,000-meter run (16:02.90), also earned points for the navy and gold.
Travaughn Robbins-Hall (So., Lauderhill, Fla., Software Engineering) twice placed in the top half, taking ninth in the 60 (7.09) and 14th in the 200-meter dash (23.57).
WPU exhibited even more depth in the sprints with 60-meter dashers K’Juan Johnson (Fr., Nassau, Bahamas, Business Management) (19th, 7.22) and Rayan Antonia (So., Willensted, Curacao, Business Management) (25th, 7.30) and 200-meter dashers Christopher Smith (Sr., Chicago, Ill., Business Management) (19th, 23.84) and Clarence Reed Jr. (Fr., Des Moines, Iowa, Civil Engineering) (20th, 23.84) all finishing in the top half of their competitions.
Brayden Veiseth (Fr., New Sharon, Iowa, Industrial Technology) also placed 18th in the one-mile run in 4:46.53.
“We had some kids coming off injuries or opening/re-opening up from the fall,” Head Coach Victoria Vinokur said. “Koby Higginbotham had some really good hurdles races. Hitting the ‘B’ standard was a good way for him to come back.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Maryville, Mo. next Friday and Saturday to compete in the Northwest Missouri State Bearcat Open.
