Trio of Crowns for Statesmen at Central Meet

Pella--The William Penn track and field teams did not send a large group down I-163, but the ones that did represent the Statesmen did well as WPU battled at the Central Dutch Classic Friday.

Three titles were won by the navy and gold, including one each by newcomers Tahj Ferguson (Sr., Hartford, Conn.) and Tafara Hondonga (Sr., Aberdeen, S.D.).

Ferguson won the 60-meter dash in 6.99 seconds, while Hondonga claimed gold in the 400-meter dash in 51.53 seconds. Ferguson also had the fourth-longest long jump at 20-5.75.

The 4x100-meter relay team had a winning time as well in 3:31.68.

Nick Richardson-Jackson (Sr., Germantown, Md.), in 7.11 seconds in the 60, and Jaden Loveless (So., Des Moines, Iowa, Industrial Technology), in 52.27 seconds in the 400, walked off with silvers. Loveless also finished fourth in the 200-meter dash (24.16).

Jasper Stottlemyer (Sr., Council Bluffs, Iowa, Sociology) guided WPU in the throws with two runner-up finishes, doing so in the shot put (47-9.75) and weight throw (52-5.25).

Justin Moeller (Sr., Keota, Iowa, Psychology) had a second-place effort in the long jump (21-10.25) as well, while also placing eighth in the pole vault (9-6.25).

Johnny Fisher (Fr., Laporte, Colo.) wrapped up a 1-2-3 finish for William Penn in the 400 (52.37), while Jace Lukefahr (JS., Newton, Iowa, Mechanical Engineering) was twice in the top half. Lukefahr was seventh in both the shot put (41-8) and the weight throw (43-10.5).

Fellow throwers Steven Murray (Sr., Missouri Valley, Iowa, Sociology) (sixth, shot put, 42-11), Jeremiah Conteh (Jr., Shorewood, Wis., English) (sixth, weight throw, 48-2.5), and Landon Hansen (Sr., Newton, Iowa) (eighth, shot put, 40-1.5) fared well at the Classic.

Abigaille Batu-Tiako (Jr., Plattsburgh, N.Y.) was twice runner-up to guide the Statesmen women, accomplishing the feat in the 60-meter hurdles (9.58) and the long jump (16-4.5).

Tabitha Rogers (So., Venice, Calif., Elementary Education) nailed down a silver as well in the 200 (27.24), while Alexandra Rose (Jr., Quincy, Ill., Exercise Science) was fourth in the 60 (8.06) and sixth in the 200 (27.96).

Additionally, Allison Read (Fr., Austin, Texas) placed fifth in the 60 in a time of 8.14 seconds.

Next Up: William Penn is off until after the New Year, traveling to Dubuque on January 21 to compete in the MOCO Mercer Open.