William Penn Fares Well in Return Trip to Wartburg
William Penn University Athletics
Waverly–Competing at the same venue for the second week in a row, the Statesmen track and field teams may have started to feel at home as it posted numerous high finishes at the Chelsey M. Henkenius Open Saturday.
The WPU men were sixth out of nine teams with 63 points, while the women were ninth of nine squads with 22 points. Wartburg swept the crowns as the men had 149.5 points and the women had 219.33 points.
With a much larger field in attendance compared to last week’s ‘dual’, the navy and gold improved their times and marks in several events. Derek Seddon (Jr., Knoxville, Iowa, Physical Education) was undeniably more successful as he destroyed his own weight throw record by nearly three feet with a distance of 58-4.5; he won the competition. The junior was also second in the shot put at 50-2.
Cornelius McCastle (Jr., McKinney, Texas, Industrial Technology) joined Seddon as an event champion, topping the high jump list at 6-7.5.
Joshua Rankin (Sr., University Park, Ill., Sociology) narrowly missed being a winner as well, taking the runner-up prize in the triple jump with a mark of 41-4.25.
Sprinters Neiman Thompson (Sr., Rockville, Md., Physical Education) and CJ Watts (Sr., Rockville, Md., Physical Education) were in the top 10 on two occasions. Thompson was third in the 400-meter dash in a time of 50.98 seconds and sixth in the 200 at 23.02, while Watts was fourth in the 400 (51.30) and ninth in the 200 (23.22). Stepfon Williams (Sr., St. Louis, Mo., Industrial Technology) made it three in the 400’s top 10 as he was eighth in 52.15 seconds.
Payton Busch (Jr., Centerville, Iowa, Secondary Education) (3rd, 1:58.20) and Zach Johnson (So., Decatur, Ill., Mechanical Engineering) (8th, 2:02.46) were two of the best runners in the 800-meter run.
Markenson Charles (Jr., Lehigh Acres, Fla., Industrial Technology) claimed fourth place in the 60-meter hurdles (8.87 seconds), while Derek Robinson (So., Jenks, Okla., Communications) was ninth in the weight throw (44-9.5). Kalob Gist (Sr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Business Management) (shot put, 42-4.25), Ochaung Akway (Sr., St. Paul, Minn., Physical Education) (1,000-meter run, 2:43.84), and the 4×400-meter relay team (3:38.88) all finished 10th.
On the women’s side, Meaghan Foster (Sr., Centerville, Iowa, Physical Education) recorded a pair of top-10s as she was third in the shot put (41-3.25) and sixth in the weight throw (46-5.5). Tarah Alexander (Sr., Cedar, Iowa, Physical Education) tallied the best placing of any female Statesmen Saturday, though, by taking second with an 800 time of 2:23.41.
Kristin Lastovka (Sr., Brooklyn, Iowa, Business Management) was a few spots behind Foster in the shot put standings, finishing seventh at 38-1.25, while Alora Simmons (Sr., Newton, Iowa, Elementary Education) was sixth in the high jump (4-10.5) and Deja Lewis (Jr., Spring, Texas, Psychology) was 10th in the 3,000-meter run (12:21.42).
Next Up: William Penn travels to Pella next Friday and Saturday to compete in the Central Dutch Athletics Classic.
