Statesmen of the Week: Tafara Hondonga and Abigaille Batu-Tiako

Oskaloosa–Men’s track and field athlete Tafara Hondonga (Sr., Aberdeen, S.D., Business Management) and women’s track and field athlete Abigaille Batu-Tiako (Jr., Plattsburgh, N.Y., Business Management) have been named the Statesmen of the Week for the week of April 24-30, presented by Gardner Collier Jewelry.

Hondonga competed in both individual and team competitions with his top effort coming in the 4×100-meter relay at the Grand View Viking Classic last Friday. In that race, he helped William Penn to a national-qualifying time of 41.42 seconds. The Statesmen 4×1 crew also ran at the Drake Relays, placing 11th in 41.77 seconds.

Individually at the Viking Classic, Hondonga won the 400-meter dash in 48.85 seconds and was second in the 200-meter dash in 22.18 seconds.

At the GVU Viking Classic, Batu-Tiako hit a personal-best mark of 18-6.5 in the long jump to reach a the ‘B’ standard and qualify for nationals. She was second in the event, while also taking seventh in the high jump at 4-9.

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