Season in Review: Youth Leads Cross Country Teams
Oskaloosa–The William Penn cross country teams utilized a great deal of young talent as they battled during their 2019 campaigns.
Vernon Trozzi (Fr., Hesperia, Calif., Exercise Science) and Michaela Kmiec (Fr., Centerville, Texas, Exercise Science) paced the men and women, respectively, with several other underclassmen in tow.
They opened the fall by topping their squads at the Simpson-hosted Bill Buxton Invitational in late August. Trozzi was 11th on the 6K course, while Kmiec was 18th in the 4K race. The female trio of Talaysia Douver (So., Lakewood, Calif., Sociology), Zena Cohuo (Fr., Carrollton, Texas, Exercise Science), and Ashlee Johnson (Fr., Marshalltown, Iowa, Sociology) were close behind their freshman teammate, also finishing in the top half. The women finished fifth out of eight teams, while the men were eighth out of nine programs.
A much larger meet against much stronger competition faced the navy and gold the following weekend as WPU left the state to compete in the Augustana Twilight in South Dakota. Trozzi had the best outing as he finished in the top 100.
A late schedule change pushed the Statesmen into the Grinnell Invitational one week later. The men, yet again led by Trozzi (19th out of 175 runners), wound up in 11th place, while the scheduling issue limited the women’s numbers and only three individuals hit the course. Kmiec was the first finisher as she was 47th overall.
After three consecutive weekends on the course, William Penn finally had a break, resting two weeks before returning to action at the Brissman-Lundeen Invitational hosted by the other Augustana in Illinois. Trozzi recorded another big day, crossing the line in 35th place out of 320 runners with the fastest 8K time of the fall at 26:23.8.
The women came up short of a team score with Kmiec at the head of WPU’s class in 112th.
Eight days later, the Statesmen headed to Missouri to check out the site for the conference meet at the Gary Stoner Invitational hosted by Central Methodist. Trozzi was 18th to be the men’s best racer, while Kmiec was 41st to headline the women.
One more regular season meet awaited the navy and gold before they could compete in the league championship as they drove to Cedar Rapids for the NAIA Seminole Valley Stampede hosted by Mount Mercy the last week of October. Kmiec (77th) was the leader for the women with a season-best 5K time of 21:23.2, while Kenneth Bolton III (So., South Riding, Va., Business Management) (105th) took the reins for the men with Trozzi out of commission.
Fortunately, Trozzi was able to get back into action two weeks later for the Heart Championships. The freshman was not running at full strength, but still placed 28th, while Kmiec was 35th at the season finale.
Kmiec also had WPU’s top times in the 4K (17:56.5) and the 6K (25:27.6), while Trozzi set the mark for the men in the 6K (20:16) and the four-mile (20:47.59) as well.
“It was a season of hard lessons for a young group, but not without its high points,” Head Coach Sean Gosewisch said. “We had some leaderboard performances by the same two freshmen (Vernon Trozzi and Michaela Kmiec) that led the team all year. They will return and look to keep improving and take charge of the next young crew coming in.”
