Statesmen Win Grinnell Invite Title for Third Time in a Row
Grinnell–The William Penn men’s track and field team continued its tradition of success at the Grinnell Invitational as it yet again won the title Saturday.
WPU finished first out of seven teams with 121 points, while host Grinnell was a close second with 109.5 points. It is the third-straight Grinnell Invitational championship for William Penn, including wins in 2019 and 2020; the meet was not held in 2021 due to COVID.
Helping the team to the crown was a trio of event wins, led by Jaden Loveless (Fr., Des Moines, Iowa) who topped the 400-meter dash in a time of 52.16 seconds.
The freshman was also a member of William Penn’s triumphant 4×400-meter relay squad, which finished first in 3:38.86. Joining Loveless on that 4×4 crew was Kenneth Bolton III (Sr., South Riding, Va., Business Management), Jamiah Foster (Fr., Rantoul, Ill.), and Brandon Williams (Fr., Fountain, Colo., Civil Engineering).
Loveless was third in the 200-meter dash as well (24.13).
Jasper Stottlemyer (Sr., Council Bluffs, Iowa, Sociology) also notched 10 team points with a victory in the shot put at 47-9.25. Stottlemyer claimed bronze on Saturday as well, tossing the weight throw a distance of 43-10.75.
Although they did not top their respective standings, four different Statesmen posted a pair of scoring performances, including Yasin Mohammed (Sr., Laurel, Md.) who was second in the triple jump (40-11.5) and third in the long jump (19-11).
Tom Nyandoro (Fr., Wake Forest, N.C., Computer Science) also collected a silver and a bronze, taking second in the 60-meter hurdles (8.99) and third in the triple jump (40-5).
Foster was third in the 400 (53.89) and seventh in the 60-meter dash (7.72), while Jace Lukefahr (Jr., Newton, Iowa) took fourth in the shot put (40-7.5) and sixth in the weight throw (41-8.5).
Josh Ogden (Jr., Sarasota, Fla.) fell just shy of individual glory as he placed second in the 200-meter dash (23.00), while fourth-place efforts were secured by Jonah Heckenberg (So., Stockport, Iowa, Business Management) (800, 2:03.41) and Jeremiah Conteh (So., Shorewood, Wis., English) (weight throw, 43-2.5).
Bolton was one of three Statesmen to finish fifth, doing so in the 800 (2:03.45). Matching him was Travis Lanier (So., Waipatu, Hawaii, Exercise Science) (60, 7.51) and Steven Murray (Jr., Missouri Valley, Iowa, Sociology) (shot put, 39-3.75).
DaMonte Sherod (So., Florissant, Mo., Mechanical Engineering) also tallied a point for WPU, finishing eighth in the 800 in 2:05.41.
“I am super impressed with how our younger athletes competed today,” Head Coach Allen Friesen said. “This was a total team effort.”
Next Up: William Penn’s field athletes will travel to Des Moines next Wednesday to compete in the Grand View Field Meet. The full Statesmen squad will then travel to Maryville, Mo. next Friday and Saturday to battle in the Northwest Missouri State Open.
