Statesmen Take Fourth in Season Opener

Pella--The William Penn men's cross country team got its 2025 campaign underway Friday as it competed in the Central Invitational.

WPU placed fourth out of eight squads with a score of 116 points.  Park topped the standings with 29 points, two points ahead of runner-up and host Central.

Jack Brown of Central guided the 97 individuals in the 6K race with a time of 18:51.0.

Andrew Miller (Jr., Le Claire, Iowa, Exercise Science) was the navy and gold's top finisher, taking 14th at 19:48.4, while Gavin Huff (Jr., Mascoutah, Ill., Mechanical Engineering) (24th, 19:58.1) and Carson Springer (Jr., Grimes, Iowa, Business Management) (25th, 19:58.1) also crossed the line in under 20 minutes.

Jordan Davis (Sr., Loomis, Calif., Political Science) was 43rd overall in a time of 20:56.4, and Sutton Shively (So., Bloomfield, Iowa, Mechanical Engineering) wrapped up the team scoring in 48th at 21:15.4.
 
Sean Gomez (Fr., Denver, Iowa, Exercise Science), who was 61st in the competition, paced the remaining Statesmen with a time of 21:47.3.

"We kicked the rust off from the offseason," Head Coach Caleb Drake said.  "One of the best things I saw is how our guys ran together.  They ran well, but I believe there is an undercurrent of momentum for this group that will be seen more as the season progresses."

Next Up: William Penn travels to Bettendorf next Saturday to compete in the St. Ambrose Invitational at 10:30 a.m.