West, Hamed Pace WPU to Top Five at Heart Championship
Maryville, Mo.–Xzavion West (Sr., Guthrie, Ky., Psychology) topped his competition twice and Youssef Hamed (Jr., Al Wakrah, Qatar, Business Management) did so once as the William Penn men’s track and field team finished in the top five at the Heart of America Athletic Conference Indoor Championship Friday and Saturday.
WPU placed fifth out of 14 teams with 91 points, while Park claimed the trophy with 174 points.
Leading the navy and gold were three event titles, including two by West and one by Hamed.
West won by exactly four feet in the weight throw with a toss of 60-10.75, and also claimed gold in the shot put with a mark of 53-8.5. He not only won by almost two feet, but broke a school record as well. The senior bettered the old record of 53-5.5 by Sage Ehresman (2020).
Hamed was the fastest sprinter at the Championship, claiming the 60-meter dash crown in a time of 6.73 seconds. The freshman earned fourth place in the 200-meter dash as well (21.68 seconds).
Koby Higginbotham (Fr., Knoxville, Iowa, Exercise Science) was unfortunately heartbreakingly denied in his quest to also be on top of the podium, settling for second in the 60-meter hurdles. His official time of 7.9229 seconds was just .005 seconds behind the winner.
The aforementioned trio have already locked up spots for next month’s NAIA National Championship, but after Saturday, they will now be joined by Micah Mills (Jr., Houston, Texas, Psychology) who punched his ticket in the triple jump. The junior placed second in the event with a distance of 48-2.75, hitting the ‘B’ standard. He also just missed scoring in the long jump at 21-6.25 (9th).
Keena Taylor (Fr., St. Petersburg, Fla., Business Management) notched WPU’s final silver, taking second in the 200 in 21.61 seconds, while also ending up fourth in the 60 at 6.82.
Myrhon Addison (Fr., Glennville, Ga., Sports Management) tallied two scoring performances in the throws, finishing fourth in the weight throw (52-1.75) and sixth in the shot put (49-1.5). Fellow thrower Fredrick Kolla Nguimdo (Jr., Wheaton, Md., Secondary Education) earned bronze in the weight throw (56-8.75).
Two of William Penn’s relay squads produced points with the 4×400-meter relay placing fifth (3:19.41), while the 4×800 (8:09.36) quartet was eighth. The distance medley crew finished outside of the point-scoring list in ninth (10:54.62).
Four other Statesmen also contributed to WPU’s final tally, beginning with a sixth-place finish by Andrew Miller (Jr., Le Claire, Iowa, Exercise Science) in the 3,000-meter run (8:45.79).
Damarius Parker (Fr., Des Moines, Iowa, General Accounting) grabbed seventh place in the 400-meter dash (48.92), while Gavin Huff (Jr., Mascoutah, Ill., Mechanical Engineering) matched him in the 1,000-meter run. Additionally, Huff placed 10th in the 800-meter run (1:58.78).
An eighth-place effort also came from John Webb (Jr., Dothan, Ala., Exercise Science) as his triple jump was marked at 45-6.5. Webb also flew to 21-1.5 in the long jump for 10th place.
Three more Statesmen also placed 10th at the Championship with Javaris Hughes (Fr., Des Moines, Iowa, New Media) doing so in the 60 competition at 6.95 seconds. Jumpers DeLawrence Davis (Fr., Marion, Ark., Sports Management), in the high jump (5-10.5), and Nicholas Knowles II (Fr., Nassau, Bahamas, Business Management), in the triple jump (44-3.5), matched that placing during the event.
“We had a great weekend,” Head Coach Victoria Vinokur said. “Our men were taking names and snatching hardware. As a collective, they saw how dominate they can be, and they thrived in it.”
Next Up: Hamed, Taylor, Higginbotham, Mills, West, and Killa Nguimdo have all qualified and will travel to Gainesville, Fla. on March 5-7 to represent William Penn at the 49th Annual NAIA National Championship. Action will be held at Alachua County Sports & Events Center at Celebration Pointe.
