Statesmen Check Out League Meet Site in Preview at Grand View
Ankeny–The William Penn cross country teams got a look at what the course will look like for the league championships later this fall as they competed at the Grand View Invitational Saturday.
The Statesmen men were sixth out of 11 teams with 144 points, while host Grand View won the event with 21 points. William Penn was in the back of a tight pack of teams that saw the navy and gold only seven points from finishing third.
The WPU women took seventh place out of 11 squads with 195 points. Mount Mercy claimed the crown with 50 points, holding off GVU by five points.
Grand View will host the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship on the Des Moines Area CC course in Ankeny on November 5.
Sam Mickelson of Grand View won the men’s 8K race, leading the 114-person field in a time of 25:12.6.
For the second race in a row to start his collegiate career, Max Finley (Fr., Richville, N.Y., Secondary Education) headlined the Statesmen crew as he was 11th in a time of 27:03.5.
Brandon Williams (So., Fountain, Colo., Civil Engineering) was also in the top 20, placing 20th at 27:26.5, while Jonah Heckenberg (Jr., Stockport, Iowa, Business Management) also eclipsed 28 minutes with a time of 27:54.3 to cross the line in 27th.
Axel Vazquez (Sr., Wray, Colo., Sports Management) was next in 45th at 29:01, while William De Jesus (Sr., Homestead, Fla., Biology) concluded WPU’s scoring in 61st at 29:45.3.
DaMonte Sherod (Jr., Florissant, Mo., Mechanical Engineering) led the remaining Statesmen on Saturday (67th, 29:59.5).
“Our men executed our race plan well,” Head Coach Caleb Drake said. “We had a couple guys coming off illness that impacted how we finished, but we still did well. Had those guys felt a bit better, we certainly could have been all the way up to third in the team standings.”
Grand View’s Morgan Lawson paced the 83-woman field, dominating the 5K competition in 18:13.4.
Delana Jordan (Sr., Addison, Texas., Business Management) was William Penn’s first finisher as she ended up 38th in 22:29.1. Elizabeth Hele (Sr., Victorville, Calif., Biology) was right on Jordan’s tail, placing 40th at 22:36.6.
Ameline Garza (Fr., Edinburg, Texas, Sociology), in 48th at 23:10.2, and Michaela Kmiec (Sr., Centerville, Texas., Exercise Science), in 54th at 23:38.2, were the third and fourth finishers for the navy and gold, while Roselaure Fuller (So., Pella, Iowa, Nursing) wrapped up WPU’s scoring in 64th in a time of 24:20.4.
“We had a different leader this week in Delana, but all of the women worked well together throughout,” Drake said.
“I thought both teams competed well,” Drake said. “We looked a little tired, like teams that are still training hard, and that is exactly what we are. We showed a lot of signs of being in the right direction.”
Next Up: William Penn takes a week off before traveling to Cedar Rapids on October 8 to compete in the Mount Mercy Seminole Valley Stampede.
