Weaver, West Lock Up Passes to Nationals at Battle in the Hive

Davenport--Two more members of the William Penn men's track and field team qualified for nationals as the Statesmen continued their indoor season at the St. Ambrose Battle in the Hive Saturday.

Anthony Weaver (Fr., Demopolis, Ala., Mechanical Engineering) punched his ticket in the triple jump with an 'A' standard and winning triple jump of 48-7.25, while Xzavion West (Jr., Guthrie, Ky., Undecided) qualified by winning the weight throw with a 'B' standard of 57-8.5.

Weaver was also ninth in the long jump at 21-0, and West was fourth in the shot put at 48-4.5.

The pair join D'Artagnon Beaver (Sr., Rockford, Ill., Human Services) and Showalter Johnson (Sr., Nassau, Bahamas, New Media) on WPU's qualifying list.  Beaver, who is already going to nationals in the 5,000-meter run, won Saturday's 3,000-meter run title with a time of 8:49.44.  He was second in the one-mile run (4:24.26) as well.

Gavin Huff (Fr., Mascoutah, Ill.) guided the 800-meter run field in 2:04.62, while Johnson had the top 60-meter dash preliminary time of 6.89 seconds.  Johnson did not compete in the finals, while Huff was ninth in the mile at 4:38.21.

Sprints

Travaughn Robbins-Hall (Fr., Lauderhill, Fla., Software Engineering) followed Johnson in the 60 in fourth (7.13), while Emanuel Johnson (Sr., Brooklyn, N.Y., Industrial Technology) was fifth (7.22 in finals, 7.21 in prelims) and Rayan Antonia (So., Willensted, Curacao, Business Management) finished 18th (7.29).

Emanuel Johnson was 17th in the 200-meter dash (23.97) as well.

Middle Distance/Distance

Brandon Williams (Sr., Fountain, Colo., Engineering Technology) headlined the rest of the Statesmen middle-distance and distance runners, taking second in the 600-meter run (1:25.50) and fourth in the 1,000-meter run (2:34.72).

Ethan Varvelo (Sr., Channelview, Texas, Engineering Technology) also posted a pair of high placings, taking fifth in the 1,000 at 2:40.68 and ninth in the 600 at 1:30.80.

Andrew Miller (So., Le Claire, Iowa, Exercise Science) took seventh in the mile (4:35.25), while Kevin Vazquez (Sr., Wray, Colo., Business Management) was 10th in the 600 (1:31.53).  Ruben Perez-Rodriguez (Sr., San Antonio, Texas, Wellness and Recreation) notched two top-half finishes as well, placing 10th in the 3,000 (9:31.43) and 15th in the mile (4:46.73).

Jumps/Pole Vault

John Webb (Fr., Dothan, Ala., Mechanical Engineering) placed right behind Weaver in the triple jump, ending up second at 46-11.5, while also finishing fifth in the long jump at 22-1.5.

Micah Mills (So., Houston, Texas, Psychology), who was sixth (21-11.5), and Antonia, who was 11th (20-7.75), both competed well in the long jump, while Wyatt Wallingford (So., Weston, Mo., Nursing) finished seventh in the pole vault at 11-6.25.

Throws

While West grabbed the gold in the weight throw, Nick Marshall (Jr., Glenpool, Okla., Human Services) brought home the silver at 52-6.5.  He was also eighth in the shot put at 43-9.25.

Primes Brock (Fr., Shreveport, La., Civil Engineering) matched West and Marshall with two strong performances as the freshman was fifth in the weight throw (46-6.75) and ninth in the shot put (42-8.25).

Fredrick Kolla Nquimdo (So., Wheaton, Md., Secondary Education) tallied an 11th-place effort in the weight throw at 40-4, while Rylee Scott (Jr., Maxwell, Iowa, Exercise Science) was 12th in the event at 38-1.25.

"Our men had a very strong day," Head Coach Victoria Vinokur said.  "They are really pushing the envelope and starting to piece things together that we have been working on.  Anthony Weaver is building off of last year and Xzavion West is really making strong technical executions; they both had big days.  If this is just the start and was us shaking the rust off from winter break, our team is in for a great season."

Next Up: William Penn travels to Lincoln, Neb. next Friday and Saturday to compete in the Nebraska Graduate Classic.