WPU Men Take Mount Mercy Title
William Penn University Athletics
by Wade Steinlage
Cedar Rapids–Five event wins lifted the Statesmen men’s track and field team to the crown at the Mount Mercy Mustang Open Friday.
William Penn’s men’s squad was first out of 12 teams with 118 points, holding off Hawkeye CC (108) by 10 points.
Weather certainly played its part as temperatures dipped and winds increased, but it did not slow down Derek Robinson (Sr., Jenks, Okla., Communications), who won two events and was third in another. Robinson topped all competitors in both the hammer at 178-4 and the discus at 150-11; he was also third in the javelin at 141-0.
Fellow thrower Tyler Albert (Jr., Eldon, Iowa, Engineering Technology) claimed the javelin victory at 160-9, while Tristen Elmore (So., Ovied, Fla., Physical Education) earned gold in the high jump at 6-3.5.
The 4×100-meter relay team matched the trio with an event win in 43.47 seconds.
Dajon Shaw (Sr., Highland Park, Mich., Exercise Science) had a pair of top-five efforts, taking third in the 100-meter dash (11.22) and fourth in the 200 (23.76).
Michael Hubbard (Jr., Gary, Ind., Exercise Science) and Malik Williams (Fr., Kansas City, Mo., Industrial Technology) were also multiple point-scorers. Hubbard finished fifth in the 100 (11.49) and sixth in the 200 (24.08), while Williams was fourth in discus (139-10) and eighth in the hammer (118-9).
Seth Davis (So., Farmerville, Texas) captured the silver in the long jump at 20-6.25, while Malik Brown (Sr., Long Beach, Calif., Psychology) ended up fourth in the 100 (11.45) and Treavon Ware (Fr., Washington, D.C., History) was eighth in the 800 (2:08.89).
WPU’s women were ninth out of 12 teams with 31 points; Upper Iowa won the title with 140 points.
Shelbie Williams (So., Hedrick, Iowa, Elementary Education) posted two top-10 showings, placing fourth in the shot put at 39-7.25 and 10th in the discus at 100-11.
Silver went to Bree’Anna Lee (So., Broken Arrow, Okla., Biology) in the 5,000-meter race walk in a time of 36:15.95, while bronze was secured by Becky Cleppe (So., St. Petersburg, Fla., Physical Education) in the hammer at 133-7.
A sixth-place effort was produced by Alexzandrea Woudenberg (Fr., Ottumwa, Iowa) with a 100 time of 13.60, while Amanda McGuire (Fr., Glendale, Ariz.) finished seventh in the 100-meter hurdles in 17.63 seconds.
Morgan Neeley (Flint, Mich., Exercise Science) (13.79 in the 100) and Elayna VanArsdale (So., Bensalem, Pa., Secondary Education) (112-0 in the discus) each finished eighth.
“Mother Nature was our biggest competitor,” Head Coach Allen Friesen said. “Although our performances were not stellar, our athletes placed high and I am proud of how they battled the elements.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Lawrence, Kan. next Wednesday-Saturday to compete at the Kansas Relays.
