West Qualifies in Season Opener as Statesmen Battle at GVU Relays

Des Moines--Xzavion West (Jr., Guthrie, Ky., Undecided) locked in a spot at nationals in his first event of the campaign as the Statesmen men's track and field team opened its outdoor season at the Grand View Viking Relays Saturday.

West was one of WPU's five champions on the day, winning the hammer throw with a provisional standard mark of 179-8.25.  He was also third in the discus at 135-6.75.

Micah Mills (So., Houston, Texas, Psychology) and Anthony Weaver (So., Demopolis, Ala., Mechanical Engineering) also won one competition and placed in another as well.

Mills took the gold in the triple jump at 44-9.75, while placing third in the long jump (21-0.75) and ninth in the 100-meter dash (11.38).  Weaver was first in the long jump at 22-2 and 14th in the 100 in 11.46 seconds.

D'Artagnon Beaver (Sr., Rockford, Ill., Human Services), in a time of 9:32.16 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, and Brandon Williams (Sr., Fountain, Colo., Engineering Technology), in a time of 4:04.15 in the 1,500-meter run, also claimed crowns.

Primes Brock (Fr., Shreveport, La., Civil Engineering) finished second in the discus at 137-2.5, while Kwabena Banahene (So., Fontana, Calif., Undecided) also took home a silver in the high jump at 6-4.

The navy and gold had numerous other top finishes in the 100 and the 1,500.

Christopher Smith (Sr., Chicago, Ill.) (3rd, 11.01) was WPU's fastest 100 sprinter, while Travaughn Robbins-Hall (Fr., Lauderhill, Fla., Software Engineering) (5th, 11.15) and Rayan Antonia (So., Willensted, Curacao, Business Management) (6th, 11.36) also placed high.

Gavin Huff (Fr., Mascoutah, Ill.) was right behind Williams in the 1,500, taking second at 4:15.94.  Ethan Varvelo (Sr., Channelview, Texas, Engineering Technology) was fourth (4:26.00), Carson Springer (So., Grimes, Iowa, Business Management) finished fifth (4:29.67), and Jordan Davis (Sr., Loomis, Calif., Political Science) ended up sixth (4:35.73).

Fredrick Kolla Nquimdo (So., Wheaton, Md., Secondary Education) placed eighth in the discus at 116-8.75, while Grant Hein (So., Durant, Iowa) was ninth in the 200-meter dash (23.39) and 14th in the 100 (11.46).

"Our men wasted no time in putting together some solid performances right off the bat," Head Coach Victoria Vinokur said.  "Xzavion West was one of many who had a great overall day, capping it off with hitting a standard in the hammer.  Our athletes are working on a lot of the smaller things right now so it is going to be fun watching them compete week after week outside and seeing those small improvements lead into some solid performances."

Next Up: William Penn travels to Fayette, Mo. next Friday and Saturday to compete in the Central Methodist Invitational.