Records Broken, Qualifying Marks Bettered in Missouri
William Penn University Athletics
Liberty, Mo.–The William Penn track and field teams were exceptional at the Darrel Gourley Open hosted by William Jewell Saturday.
As a team, the Statesmen men were fifth out of 23 teams with 47 points, while Lincoln (Mo.) was first with 140 points. On the women’s side, WPU was 16th out of 24 teams with 14 points, while Lincoln finished off the sweep with 165.5 points.
Cornelius McCastle (Jr., McKinney, Texas, Industrial Technology) headlined the day as he qualified for nationals in the high jump with a runner-up and ‘A’ standard mark of 6-9.75. The junior missed tying his school record by just a half an inch.
McCastle is William Penn’s fourth national qualifier (five events).
One of the other qualifiers, Derek Seddon (Jr., Knoxville, Iowa, Physical Education) had a monster day with three high placings. First, the junior won the 54-person discus competition with a mark of 168-1. Next, he bettered his season-best shot put mark to 51-4.25, moving into the ‘A’ standard group. Finally, Seddon was third in the hammer at 157-3.
Neiman Thompson (Sr., Rockville, Md., Physical Education) also led everyone in his event. He topped the 44-person 400-meter dash field in a new school-record time of 47.87 seconds. The record he broke (Kris Miller, 48.29) had stood since 2009. Thompson also moved his time from the ‘B’ list to the ‘A’ group.
CJ Watts (Sr., Rockville, Md., Physical Education) joined Thompson in the 400’s top 10, finishing the race fifth in 49.43 seconds. WPU’s 4×400-meter relay team was fifth as well in 3:22.66.
Payton Busch (Jr., Centerville, Iowa, Secondary Education) was seventh in the 800-meter run (1:56.75), while Aaron Seddon (So., Knoxville, Iowa, Physical Education), in ninth at 142-9, and Earl George (Jr., Gaithersburg, Md., Biology), in 10th at 140-4, were both in the top 10 in the javelin throw.
Tarah Alexander (Sr., Cedar, Iowa, Physical Education) was the William Penn’s best female on Saturday, snapping her own 1,500-meter program record with a time of 4:49.71. The senior placed second in the event.
Meaghan Foster (Sr., Centerville, Iowa, Physical Education) had a bronze finish in the shot put at 42-2.75, while Alora Simmons (Sr., Newton, Iowa, Elementary Education) and Alyssa Phillips (Jr., Gurnee, Ill., Communications) tied for ninth place with identical high jumps of 4-9.
Guadalupe Gonzalez (So., Houston, Texas, Exercise Science) just missed the top 10 in the 1,500; the sophomore was 11th in a time of 5:14.47.
Next Up: William Penn is off next week, returning to action on April 28 by traveling to Kirksville, Mo. for the Truman Twilight.
