Statesmen Earn Second Title in a Row, Williams Wins Again

Des Moines--After waiting nearly two decades to claim a title, the William Penn cross country team got right back in the winner's circle Saturday as it competed at the Grand View Invitational.

WPU placed first out of seven teams with 20 points, while Mount Mercy was a distant second with 64 points.

The crown is the program's second in as many meets, following a trophy drought that dated back to 2004.

It was nearly a perfect run for the navy and gold as four of the top five runners were Statesmen.

Brandon Williams (Jr., Fountain, Colo., Civil Engineering) earned his second-straight individual win, leading the 69-runner field in a time of 26:41.4 on the 8K course.

D'Artagnon Beaver (Jr., Rockford, Ill., Undecided) crossed the finish line second at 27:04.3, while Max Finley (Fr., Richville, N.Y., Computer Science) was fourth overall at 27:32.8.  Jonah Heckenberg (Sr., Stockport, Iowa, Business Management) ended up in fifth at 27:38.7.

Andrew Miller (Fr., Le Claire, Iowa, Exercise Science) then wrapped up the varsity scoring in 11th place at 28:13.8.

Ethan Varvelo (Jr., Channelview, Texas, Engineering Technology) was the best of the remaining WPU harriers, taking 19th at 29:04.1.

"Our athletes showed excellent maturity and patience in today's race," Head Coach Caleb Drake said.  "They ran together and waited to push the pace until the appropriate time to allow the team to win.  Brandon led the way, but overall the team looked extremely strong.  I am confident we got better today and we are excited to mix it up with some nationally-ranked competition in a couple weeks."

Next Up: After taking a week off, William Penn will travel to North Sioux City on Saturday, October 7 to compete in the Briar Cliff Invitational at 11:15 a.m.