Throwers, Vaulters Compete at Grinnell Meet

Grinnell--Three Statesmen track and field athletes overcame weather adversity as they won event titles at the Grinnell Dick Young Invitational Saturday.

With weather conditions not favorable for strong running times, William Penn chose to only send its throwers and pole vaulters to the Invitational.

The trio of Keaten Griffen (Fr., Longview, Texas, Software Engineering), Landon Hansen (Sr., Newton, Iowa, Political Science), and Erica Martin (Jr., Detroit, Mich., Sports Management) each went home with victories.

Griffen won the men's pole vault at 13-11.25, while Hansen was first in the men's shot put at 46-4.75.  Martin won the women's shot put at 39-10.75

Jasper Stottlemyer (Sr., Council Bluffs, Iowa, Sociology) was denied a gold in two separate men's events, taking second in both the shot put (46-1.5) and discus (134-3), while also placing fifth in the hammer throw (149-2).

The navy and gold claimed the top four spots in the men's shot put with Jace Lukefahr (Sr., Newton, Iowa, Mechanical Engineering) finishing third (45-5.75) and Steven Murray (Sr., Missouri Valley, Iowa) ending up fourth (42-9.75).  Lukefahr was also sixth in the discus (123-6) and seventh in the hammer (136-8), while Murray managed ninth in the hammer (125-2) and 10th in the discus (113-4).

Following up Griffen's pole vault gold, Justin Moeller (Sr., Keota, Iowa, Psychology) won the bronze at 12-11.5.

Phoebe Burt (So., Coralville, Iowa) was third in the women's discus (126-3) and seventh in the shot put (35-3.75)

Additionally, Hansen placed 11th in the discus at 112-1.

"This was a pretty good day for us over despite the weather," Head Coach Allen Friesen said.  "I was really pleased with our results and effort."

Next Up: William Penn will send athletes to Des Moines to compete at either the Grand View Viking Classic next Friday or the Drake Relays from Thursday through Saturday.