Pair of ‘A’ Standards for Robinson in Season Opener
William Penn University Athletics
by Wade Steinlage
Pella–Derek Robinson (Sr., Jenks, Okla., Communications) is off to a tremendous start in his final collegiate season as the William Penn track and field teams opened the outdoor campaign at the Central Invitational Thursday and Friday.
The Statesmen men placed sixth out of 10 teams with 64 points, while Northwestern won the title with 183.5 points. WPU’s women were eighth out of 10 squads with 21 points; NWC finished the sweep with 185.5 points.
Robinson competed in four events at the Invitational and qualified for nationals in two of them. The senior won the hammer at 181-9 and was second in the discus at 165-6; both distances were automatic-qualifying marks.
Robinson also ended up fifth in the javelin (159-0) and sixth in the shot put (44-0.5).
A quartet of other Statesmen also tallied multiple top-10 finishes. Mofiyinfoluwa Alade (Fr., Hoffman Estates, Ill.) headlined the crew by placing third in the high jump (6-6) and seventh in the 110-meter hurdles (17.05 seconds), while Sage Ehresman (So., Sully, Iowa, Exercise Science) also won the bronze in the javelin at 164-9. The sophomore was 10th in the shot put as well at 38-6.25.
William Penn’s 4×100-meter relay crew also placed third with a time of 43.63 seconds.
Seth Davis (So., Farmerville, Texas) had two high placings by taking sixth in the 400-meter hurdles (1:00.21) and seventh in the long jump (20-4.25), while Dajon Shaw (Sr., Highland Park, Mich., Exercise Science) was fifth in both the 100-meter dash (11.33) and long jump (20-11.75).
Michael Hubbard (Jr., Gary, Ind., Exercise Science) crossed the line seventh in the 100 (11.51), while Malik Brown (Sr., Long Beach, Calif., Psychology) was one spot behind him in a time of 11.56 seconds. Tyler Albert (Jr., Eldon, Iowa, Engineering Technology) also scored a point in the javelin at 149-6.
Matthew Cuthbert (Jr., Yucaipa, Calif., Sociology), in ninth in the discus at 131-5, and Zachary Peal (Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa., Psychology), in 10th in the hammer at 120-2, also ended up in the top 10 in the season opener.
Elayna VanArsdale (So., Bensalem, Pa., Secondary Education) was terrific in leading the female athletes at the Invitational with three top-10 efforts. The sophomore finished third in the discus (128-2), sixth in the hammer (134-8), and ninth in the shot put (36-6.25).
Becky Cleppe (So., St. Petersburg, Fla., Physical Education) joined VanArsdale with a pair of strong outings by taking seventh in both the hammer (132-2) and javelin (96-4).
Shelbie Williams (So., Hedrick, Iowa, Elementary Education) had WPU’s best finish, winning the silver in the shot put at 41-8.
Alexzandrea Woudenberg (Fr., Ottumwa, Iowa) recorded a top-10 performance in the 100, ending up ninth in a time of 13.27.
“We had two really good days of competition with almost everyone recording a personal best and Derek Robinson qualifying twice,” Head Coach Allen Friesen said. “I am really excited for what our athletes can do this outdoor season.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Fayette, Mo. next Saturday to compete in the Central Methodist Invitational.
