Statesmen Compete in Mount Mercy Seminole Stampede
Cedar Rapids–After a two-week break, the William Penn University cross country teams were back in action in Cedar Rapids at the Mount Mercy Seminole Stampede.
The Statesmen were looking to make their mark on the race after the men placed 18th out of 20 a year ago and the women finished 15th out of 20. The meet was their largest of the season with 25 teams in attendance, including nine other squads from the Heart of America Athletic Conference.
Unfortunately, the Statesmen struggled on Saturday, as the men finished 23rd out of 25 and the women were 22nd of 25 squads.
The men’s race had a total of 224 runners with the highest Statesmen finisher being Ruben Perez-Rodriguez (Fr., San Antonio, Texas). The only member of the navy and gold to finish in the top 100, he placed 88th with an 8K time of 28:11:18. This mark represented a new season personal best for him, breaking his old mark of 28:38.
The Statesmen unfortunately would not see another finisher for a while after Perez-Rodriguez, as the trio of William DeJesus (So., Homestead, Fla., Biology) (29:36:02), Jonah Heckenberg (Fr., Stockport, Iowa, Business Management) (29:44:19), and Isaac Knockel (Fr., New Sharon, Iowa, Pre-Professional Biology) (29:47:84) finished in 137th, 143rd, and 144th, respectively. The time for DeJesus represented his best 8K time of the campaign.
Axel Arzate-Vazquez (So., Wray, Colo., Sports Management) recorded the last scoring time as he was 184th in 31:38.7.
The men’s team score of 559 put them just a tick behind both Missouri Valley and Truett-McConnell, who finished with scores of 557 and 556, respectively.
The women’s team fared just a tad better than the men on Saturday. The Statesmen unfortunately did not see their first finisher until the 119th position as Michaela Kmiec (So., Centerville, Texas, Exercise Science) guided WPU with a 5K time of 21:32:89.
Talaysia Douver (Jr., Lakewood, Calif., Sociology) (22:17:59) and Madison Udy (Sr., American Falls, Idaho, Exercise Science) (22:27:82) were the next two runners to finish, placing 147th and 151st, respectively. Douver and Udy both beat their season-best 5K times by over a minute in the contest. Ashlee Johnson (Sr., Marshalltown, Iowa, Human Services and Sociology) (22:45:23) finished close behind them at 158th.
Zena Cohuo (So., Carrollton, Texas, Exercise Science) wrapped up the navy and gold scoring, crossing the line in 172nd place in a time of 23:17.8.
What’s Next: The Statesmen will have another two-week grace period before competing in the Mount Mercy Jamboree on October 24. The competition will represent their final meet before the Heart Championships on November 7.
