Split Squads Battle in Kansas, Iowa’s Capitol City

Lawrence, Kan. / Des Moines–The William Penn track and field teams split up and competed in two separate meets over the last few days.

Part of the squad went to the prestigious Kansas Relays Thursday through Saturday, while others were at the Drake Jim Duncan Invitational Friday.

Abigaille Batu-Tiako (Jr., Plattsburgh, N.Y., Business Management) had the top individual finish for the navy and gold in Kansas as she placed ninth in the long jump at 17-3.25.

Justin Moeller (Sr., Keota, Iowa, Psychology) also had a top-10 effort in the men’s long jump, taking 10th at 22-1.5.

Showalter Johnson (So., Nassau, Bahamas, Business Management) was 14th in the 100-meter dash in 10.47 seconds, while Tafara Hondonga (Sr., Aberdeen, S.D., Business Management) also finished 14th in the 400-meter dash at 49.48.

Johnson’s 10.47 time is the second fastest in school history.

WPU’s 4×100-meter relay team was also 11th in a time of 42.57 seconds.

Max Finley (Fr., Richville, N.Y., Secondary Education) guided William Penn on the famous Blue Oval, ending up sixth in the 5,000-meter run in 15:28.48.

Keaten Griffen (Fr., Longview, Texas, Software Engineering) then took seventh with a pole vault of 13-9.25. Johnny Fisher (Fr., Laporte, Colo., New Media), who was 11th in the 200-meter dash (23.30), and Brandon Williams (Fr., Fountain, Colo., Civil Engineering), who was 13th in the 1,500-meter run (4:09.07), were in the top half of their respective events as well.

Phoebe Burt (So., Coralville, Iowa) topped the team’s female competitors by placing eighth in the discus at 131-3.

Next Up: William Penn travels to Iowa City next Saturday to compete in the Iowa Musco Twilight.