Moeller’s Huge Decathlon Win Headlines WPU at Heart Championship
Cedar Rapids–Justin Moeller (Sr., Keota, Iowa, Psychology) destroyed the competition as he led the Statesmen men’s track and field team at the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship Friday and Saturday.
As a team, William Penn was seventh out of 13 teams with 67 points, while Grand View won the crown with 164 points.
Moeller was one of two Statesmen champions, claiming the decathlon title with 6,638 points. In his first-ever attempt at the competition, the senior accomplished numerous feats, including moving himself into third place in the NAIA (top 16 scores qualify for nationals). Moeller also broke the meet record and William Penn’s record, surpassing the school’s old mark of 5,979 points by Ed Simms from 2005.
In the event, Moeller, who won by nearly 700 points, was first in three of the 10 battles: 110-meter hurdles (15.29 seconds, 815 points), high jump (6-6.25, 794 points), and long jump (22-5.25, 776 points). He scored an event-high 823 points with a 100-meter dash time of 11.17 seconds and also eclipsed 700 points (711) with a 400-meter dash of 52.31 seconds.
William Penn’s 4×100-meter relay crew also won gold with a time of 41.64 seconds.
Showalter Johnson (So., Nassau, Bahamas, Business Management) did not earn an individual crown with a pair of silvers, but did double up his national qualifications (he had already qualified in the 100). The sophomore finished the 200-meter dash with an automatic-qualifying time of 21.22 seconds. He was also second in the 100 in 10.56 seconds.
Tahj Ferguson (Sr., Hartford, Conn., Psychology) matched Johnson with a second-place effort in the long jump at 23-0.5, while Tafara Hondonga (Sr., Aberdeen, S.D., Business Management) was third in the 400-meter dash at 48.73.
The top four pole vaulters all cleared a height of 13-11.25, but three individuals hit the mark earlier than Keaten Griffen (Fr., Longview, Texas, Software Engineering) who placed fourth overall.
Max Finley (Fr., Richville, N.Y., Secondary Education) was also fourth, finishing the 5,000-meter run in a time of 15:39.29.
Sixth-place efforts came from Jasper Stottlemyer (Sr., Council Bluffs, Iowa, Sociology) and Brandon Williams (Fr., Fountain, Colo., Civil Engineering). Stottlemyer did so in the hammer throw at 164-0, while Williams’ performance came in the 800-meter run (1:55.79). Stottlemyer was also 11th in the discus (132-1).
The 4×400-meter relay squad scored for WPU as well, finishing eighth at 3:23.57.
Jonah Heckenberg (Jr., Stockport, Iowa, Business Management) was one of several near-misses for the navy and gold as he was ninth in the 1,500-meter run in a time of 4:06.81.
Jaelen Love (Sr., Crown Point, Ind., English), in 22.18 seconds in the 200, and Landon Hansen (Sr., Newton, Iowa, Political Science), at 45-3 in the shot put, were both 10th. Jace Lukefahr (Sr., Newton, Iowa, Mechanical Engineering) placed 12th in the discus at 128-11 as well.
“This was not exactly what we had hoped for, but it was still a pretty good showing nonetheless,” Head Coach Allen Friesen said. “We got points from everywhere which has not happened in a while so that was exciting.”
