Statesmen Battle at Grinnell Les Duke Invitational

Grinnell–The William Penn women’s cross country team faced off against a strong field as it competed at the Grinnell Les Duke Invitational Saturday.

WPU was sixth out of seven teams with 170 points, while Central earned the team crown with 33 points.

A total of 98 runners took on the 6K course with Maddy Stevens of Central was first collegiate runner across the line with a time of 23:01.5.

Claire Rye (So., Plymouth, Iowa, Biology) narrowly missed another top-10 finish, taking 12th at 24:12.1.

“Claire continues to believe that she can be a frontrunner,” Head Coach Caleb Silver said. “It was fun to see her place in the top 20 with some great competition.”

Kennedi Wahmhoff (So., Manton, Mich., Elementary Education) was next, placing 58th at 27:22.1, while Amelia Hernandez (Fr., Lubbock, Texas, Nursing) was 83rd at 31:12.3.

“Kennedi and Amelia also had a great day today, and were key contributors to our team’s placing,” Silver said.

Nathaly Peralta (So., Dallas, Texas, New Media), in 91st (32:46.0), and Audrey Etter (So., Remsen, Iowa, Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management), in 92nd (33:12.6) rounded out the team scoring.

Ava Huffman (Fr., Pella, Iowa, Human Services) also ran, finishing 94th at 34:15.6.

“The ladies ran strong and took another step forward, but we are still learning how to run conservatively in the first half of these hillier meets, and move up throughout the race,” Head Coach Caleb Silver said. “Unfortunately, London Mellen took a spill midway through the race and will miss some time, but we hope to have her healthy again for our next meet.”

“Overall, the ladies are growing stronger and the hills helped build their character today,” Silver added. We have now beaten the No. 8, No. 9, and No. 10 ranked teams in our conference preseason rankings, so we are trending in the right direction.”

Next Up: William Penn takes a week off before traveling to Pella on Friday, September 25 at 4:45 p.m.