Statesmen Earn Five Golds, Dagrin Breaks Four-Decade-Old Record at Home Tourney

Oskaloosa–One of the longest-standing school records fell Friday as the William Penn men’s track and field team enjoyed a successful day in hosting the William Penn Statesmen Invitational.

Loubert Dagrin (So., Miami, Fla., Sociology) blitzed the 110-meter hurdle field with a winning time of 14.42 seconds. The performance breaks a record of 14.60 by Richard Baskerville that had stood since 1981. Dagrin now ranks seventh nationally, moving from the ‘B’ standard list to the ‘A’ grouping. He also now owns both of the school’s sprint hurdle records.

The navy and gold collected six other titles Friday, including a sweep of the jumps. Mofiyinfoluwa Alade (Sr., Hoffman Estates, Ill., Exercise Science), who was fourth in the 110 hurdles in a time of 15.96, won the high jump at 6-4.75.

Jackson Coates (So., Aldie, Va., Engineering Technology) took the long jump at 23-2, while Justin Moeller (So., Keota, Iowa, Psychology) was the triple jump champion with a mark of 42-11. Moeller was just behind Coates in the long jump at 21-11 as well.

Kenneth Bolton (Jr., South Riding, Va., Business Management) rolled his 800-meter run competition at 2:04.92, winning by more than five seconds, while Jesse Birlson (Jr., Fairfield, Iowa, Sports Management) tossed the best javelin at 131-4.

The 4×100-meter relay crew notched the title as well, doing so in 42.36 seconds.

Jasper Stottlemyer (Jr., Council Bluffs, Iowa, Sociology) guided the throws team with a pair of runner-up placings. The junior was second in both the shot put (45-10.5) and discus (136-5), while also finishing fifth in the hammer throw (119-1).

Zac Richardson-Jackson (Sr., Germantown, Md.) was William Penn’s fastest individual with a second-place effort in the 100-meter dash at 10.86 seconds. He walked off with bronze in the 200-meter dash as well (22.28).

Jaelen Love (Jr., Crown Point, Ind., Secondary Education) was slightly quicker than Richardson-Jackson in the 200, taking second in a time of 22.15. Jaylon Lenord (So., Houston, Texas) was twice in the top 10 as well, running the 100 in 11:30 (4th) and finishing the 200 in 22.96 (7th).

Steven Dion (Fr., Woodland Hills, Calif., Digital Communication) matched Lenord with two top-10 showings in the sprints. He was seventh in the 100 (11.66) and ninth in the 200 (23.62).

Jace Lukefahr (Jr., Newton, Iowa) was also a strong thrower with a fifth-place showing in the shot put (39-7.25) and a sixth-place performance in the discus (112-4).

A handful of Statesmen competed well in the 800 and 1,500-meter runs. In addition to Bolton’s win in the 800, Jonah Heckenberg (Fr., Stockport, Iowa, Business Management) finished fifth in the event (2:11.50), while ending up fourth in the 1,500 (4:29.72).

Vernon Trozzi (So., Hesperia, Calif., Exercise Science) was sixth in the 800 (2:11.74) and fifth in the 1,500 (4:31.04), while Ruben Perez-Rodriguez (Fr., San Antonio, Texas, Business Management) was seventh in the 800 (2:12.81) and sixth in the 1,500 (4:31.48). Axel Arzate-Vazquez (So., Wray, Colo., Sports Management) (7th, 4:36.09) and Isaac Knockel (Fr., New Sharon, Iowa, Pre-Professional Biology) (9th, 4:37.17) both snuck into the top 10 in the 1,500. The duo found themselves in the top half in the 800 as well–Arzate-Vazquez was 11th at 2:15.28, while Knockel was 13th at 2:16.85.

Daniel Blanco (Sr., Westbury, N.Y., Wellness and Recreation), in the 800 (2:13.08), and William De Jesus (So., Homestead, Fla., Biology), in the 1,500 (4:36.99), both finished eighth in their respective competitions.

Landon Hansen (Jr., Newton, Iowa) finished with a fourth-place shot put of 43-6, while Landon Griffin (Jr., Peoria, Ill., Sports Management) just missed the top 10 in the 200 as he was 11th in a time of 23.84 seconds.

“It was so great to host our own meet again and have so many great performances with a handful of champions,” Head Coach Allen Friesen said. “Loubert Dagrin ran a terrific hurdles race to break a 40-year-old record.”

Next Up: William Penn travels to Des Moines next Friday and Saturday to compete in the NAIA Midwest Invitational.