WPU Men First at Grinnell, Multi-Event School Records Broken at Central
Pella/Grinnell–The William Penn track and field teams took home trophies and broke records as they competed at two different meets this weekend.
While most of the teams went to Grinnell on Saturday, Justin Moeller (Sr., Keota, Iowa, Psychology) and Abigaille Batu-Tiako (Jr., Plattsburgh, N.Y.) both battled at the Central Multi-Events on Thursday and Friday. In their first collegiate attempts in the competitions, Moeller was second in the heptathlon, while Batu-Tiako was third in the pentathlon.
Moeller won the long jump at 22-5.75 en route to a new school record of 4,634 points, breaking the old mark of 4,131 (Earl George, 2017).
Batu-Tiako headlined both the 60-meter hurdles (9.72 seconds) and long jump (17-4.25) events as part of 2,486 total points. She also set a new program mark, previously held by Taylor Richardson from 2017 with 2,251 points.
At Grinnell, WPU’s men’s team was first out of 10 squads with 134 points, while the women were fifth out of 10 with 68 points. Host Grinnell won the women’s team trophy with 117 points.
Four event crowns were captured by William Penn’s male student-athletes, including two on the track and two in the field. Showalter Johnson (So., Nassau, Bahamas, Business Management) won the 200-meter dash gold in 22.40 seconds, while Tafara Hondonga (Sr., Aberdeen, S.D.) left all 400-meter dash runners in his wake in 50.69 seconds.
Tom Nyandoro (So., Wake Forest, N.C., Computer Science) was the best triple jumper at 42-10.75, while Jasper Stottlemyer (Sr., Council Bluffs, Iowa, Sociology) also defeated everyone in the shot put at 48-3.
Nyandoro and Stottlemyer nearly claimed two victories Saturday; Nyandoro was second in the 60-meter hurdles (8.76), while Stottlemyer was fourth in the weight throw (47-1.5).
WPU had numerous student-athletes ranking high in both throwing competitions. Landon Hansen (Sr., Newton, Iowa) was second in the shot put (47-5.75), while Steven Murray (Sr., Missouri Valley, Iowa, Sociology) was sixth (41-4.25), Jeremiah Conteh (Jr., Shorewood, Wis., English) was 11th (37-5.75), and Jace Lukefahr (Sr., Newton, Iowa, Mechanical Engineering) was 13th (37-1).
In the weight throw, Conteh was third (47-8), Hansen ended up seventh (43-1.75), and Lukefahr was eighth (42-6.25).
Following Johnson’s lead, the Statesmen sprinters accumulated several points. Tahj Ferguson (Sr., Hartford, Conn.) finished second in the 60-meter dash (7.15 in the prelims) and 12th in the 200 (24.03), while also placing fifth in the long jump (20-9).
Johnny Fisher (Fr., Laporte, Colo.) was second in the 400-meter dash (52.85), while Rayan Antonia (7.19) and Nick Richardson-Jackson (Sr., Germantown, Md.) (7.23) went fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 60.
A quartet of runners had top-half placings in the 800-meter run, headlined by Jonah Heckenberg (Jr., Stockport, Iowa, Business Management) taking the silver in a time of 2:00.32. Brandon Williams (Fr., Fountain, Colo., Civil Engineering) followed him in fourth (2:01.20), while Ethan Varvelo (So., Channelview, Texas, Engineering) was sixth (2:04.95) and Max Finley (Fr., Richville, N.Y., Secondary Education) took 14th (2:09.90).
Keaton Griffen (Fr., Longview, Texas) also tallied a runner-up performance in the pole vault (13-4.25), while the 4×200-meter relay team was third (1:34.37) and the 4×400-meter relay team was sixth (3:45.40).
William Penn’s women’s 4×4 squad defeated the rest of the field in 4:24.32, while the 4×2 quartet was second in 1:53.48.
Silver efforts were also produced by Alexandra Rose (Jr., Quincy, Ill., Exercise Science) in the 60 (8.17), Raven Williams (Sr., Las Vegas, Nev.) in the 400 (1:00.78), Harris in the 60 hurdles (10.31), and Erica Martin (Jr., Detroit, Mich.) in the shot put (41-5).
Tabitha Rogers (So., Venice, Calif., Elementary Education) was twice in the top 10, taking third in the 60 (8.27) and fourth in the 200 (28.15), while Rose tacked on a sixth-place showing in the 200 in 28.44 seconds.
Simon followed Williams in the 400, placing seventh overall in a time of 1:06.40. Elizabeth Hele (Sr., Victorville, Calif., Biology) was seventh as well in the 800 (2:34.69), while Michaela Kmiec (Sr., Centerville, Texas., Exercise Science) took 11th in that same event in 2:40.23.
Next Up: William Penn travels to Des Moines Wednesday to compete in the Grand View Field Meet.
