Three Titles, One School Record, and One National Qualification Highlight Busy Weekend

Des Moines/Grinnell--The William Penn men's track and field team competed well in two separate meets as it returned to action Friday and Saturday.

After choosing to take a weekend off due to poor weather conditions, the Statesmen came back refreshed and netted a trio of event wins as well as one school record and one national-qualifying mark in battles at both the Drake Jim Duncan Invitational Friday and Saturday and the Grinnell Dick Young Invitational Saturday.

At Drake

While he did not top the standings in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, D'Artagnon Beaver (Sr., Rockford, Ill., Human Services) he did put up the fastest time in school history.  The senior placed third with a new program record of 9:10.35, also hitting the automatic national-qualifying standard in the process.  Beaver also owned the old school record of 9:23.80 from a year ago.

Showalter Johnson (Sr., Nassau, Bahamas, New Media) earned the squad's lone win at Drake by hitting the line in the 100-meter dash in 10.51 seconds.  He was also third in the 200-meter dash in 21.50 seconds.

Anthony Weaver (So., Demopolis, Ala., Mechanical Engineering) claimed silver in the triple jump at 45-6.25, while John Webb (So., Dothan, Ala., Mechanical Engineering) was fifth in the long jump at 22-1.

Andrew Miller (So., Le Claire, Iowa, Exercise Science) gave the Statesmen a pair of top finishers in the steeplechase as he was sixth (9:36.57), while Brandon Williams (Sr., Fountain, Colo., Engineering Technology) ended up 11th in the 800-meter run in a time of 1:52.65.

At Grinnell

The throwing crew was WPU's most successful group Saturday with Xzavion West (Jr., Guthrie, Ky., Undecided) and Nick Marshall (Jr., Glenpool, Okla., Human Services) each notching a crown.

West did so in the hammer throw, bettering his 'B' standard to 186-4, while Marshall paced the javelin field at 151-6.

West was also fourth in the shot put (50-9.5) and 11th in the discus (134-6), while Marshall was fifth in the hammer (167-5) and eighth in the shot put (45-9.25).

Runner-up placings were secured by Webb in the long jump (21-9) and Travaughn Robbins-Hall (Fr., Lauderhill, Fla., Software Engineering) in the 200 (23.34); Robbins-Hall was able to take fourth in the 100 (10.83) as well.

Weaver walked away from the long jump competition in sixth (20-3.5), while Emanuel Johnson (Sr., Brooklyn, N.Y., Industrial Technology) finished ninth in the 100 at 10.97 and 12th in the 200 at 23.82.

Rylee Scott (Jr., Maxwell, Iowa, Exercise Science) also finished 12th in the shot put at 42-6, while Rayan Antonia (So., Willensted, Curacao, Business Management), in a time of 11.25 in the 100, and Grant Hein (So., Durant, Iowa, Civil Engineering), in a time of 24.25 in the 200, both placed 17th.

"We saw some good things this weekend," Head Coach Victoria Vinokur said.  "Our athletes learned a lot from situations, and it lit a fire under them.  Watching D'Artagnon Beaver shatter his steeplechase record and put himself high in the NAIA rankings was really fun.  He has been working extremely hard and it was great to see it come together for him this weekend."

Next Up: William Penn travels to Cedar Rapids next Saturday to compete in the Mount Mercy DeBacker Invitational.