William Penn Closes Regular Season with Top-Half Finish
Ashland, Neb.–The Statesmen men’s cross country team capped its regular season facing off against a talented grouping as it competed in the Blazing Tiger NAIA Classic Saturday.
The Statesmen finished 12th out of 26 programs with 391 points. No. 11 nationally-ranked Saint Mary (Kan.) claimed the team title with 59 points, while No. 4 College of Idaho was second with 100 points. No. 15 Doane (Neb.) earned the bronze (109 points).
Kalieb Redda of Columbia (Mo.) took the individual crown in the 345-person 8K race with a time of 24:19.39.
Andrew Miller (Jr., Le Claire, Iowa, Exercise Science) led the Statesmen in 53rd at 25:57.04, while Brady McWhirter (Fr., Fairfield, Iowa, Sports Management) was right behind his junior teammate in 60th with a time of 26:04.23.
Gavin Huff (Jr., Mascoutah, Ill., Mechanical Engineering) managed a top-100 finish as well, placing 100th in 26:46.31.
Sutton Shively (So., Bloomfield, Iowa, Mechanical Engineering), in 124th at 27:02.71, and Carson Springer (Jr., Grimes, Iowa, Business Management), in 126th at 27:03.75, concluded the navy and gold lineup.
Jordan Davis (Sr., Loomis, Calif., Political Science) was the top remaining William Penn harrier as he placed 142nd in a time of 27:13.36.
“The men continue to get stronger as the season goes on, and believe they belong with the top teams in the conference,” Graduate Assistant Coach Caleb Silver said. “We are starting to understand how important our depth is for our program, and we saw that depth put on display today.”
“A few of our newcomers highlighted the day for us, with an all-time top 10 performance from Brady McWhirter, while Axl Patterson broke the 30:00 barrier (29:59.8),” Silver said. “Overall, it was a great day for the program. We are still putting the pieces together and hope to have everyone healthy for conference in two weeks.”
Next Up: After taking a week off, William Penn travels to Cedar Rapids on Saturday, November 8 to compete in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship.
