Statesmen Cruise to Home Victory

Pella--The William Penn shotgun sports team week was a bit greedy and refused to share over the weekend, sweeping all five disciplines as it won the William Penn Invitational.

WPU was first out of six teams with a final tally of 2,286-for-2,500. Iowa Western CC was a distant second at 2,189-for-2,500, while Midland was third (2,148-for-2,500).

The domination began from the opening shoot with the navy and gold taking the American Trap victory at 490-for-500. Russell Malterud (Grad., North Branch, Minn., Master's of Organizational Leadership) was the top shooter at 99-for-100, while Dryden DeKoning (So., Newton, Iowa, Business Management) was next at 98-for-100. Ian Broadway (Fr., Racine, Wis., Biology) collected team bronze at 97-for-100, while the quartet of Hunter Block (Jr., Eldridge, Iowa, Business Management), Raylee Bishop (So., Ankeny, Iowa, Engineering), Holly Boeke (So., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Biology), and Madison Van Diest (Fr., Anaheim, Calif., Sociology) were all at 96-for-100.

A perfect 100-for-100 score from Dominick Ver Meer (Jr., Pella, Iowa) paced the Statesmen to the American Skeet crown at 494-for-500. The trio of Mathew Brindley (So., Earlham, Iowa, Industrial Technology), Cade Bowie (Fr., Benton, Ark., Business Management), and Colten Uitermarkt (Grad., Otley, Iowa, Master's of Organizational Leadership) just missed perfection at 99-for-100, while Boeke and Broadway were both 97-for-100.

Malterud's 89-for-100 was the best for WPU in Sporting Clays; the squad came away with another title, going 434-for-500. Noah DeBoef (So., Leighton, Iowa, Industrial Technology) and Uitermarkt were in runner-up position at 87-for-100, while Ver Meer (86-for-100) and Christopher Berkshire-Lewis (Jr., Kansas City, Mo., Business Management) (85-for-100) rounded out the scorers.

Brindley matched Ver Meer by being unblemished in Double Skeet (100-for-100), while Noah Seelye (So., Pella, Iowa, Mechanical Engineering) ended up second for William Penn at 97-for-100. Uitermarkt (94-for-100), KayLynn Sieber (So., Marshall, Minn., Biology) (93-for-100), and the threesome of Ver Meer, DeKoning, and Brandon Nord (Fr., Hidden Valley Lake, Calif., New Media) (92-for-100) also scored for the navy and gold. WPU's final tally was 476-for-500.

A Super Sporting crown (436-for-500) wrapped up the weekend for the victors. Uitermarkt was first at 91-for-100, while Malterud was 89-for-100. Block and Berkshire-Lewis ended up at 86-for-100, while Brindley and Ver Meer both managed to hit 84 of their 100 targets.

Uitermarkt was the Male High Overall Athlete at 466-for-500, while Sieber guided the females as HOA recipient at 437-for-500.

"The team did an amazing job working together and staying focused on a very challenging weekend," Head Coach Steve Heaton said. "We still have some improvements to work on in the line games, but overall, we are definitely heading in the right direction."

Next Up: William Penn travels to Waukee Saturday and Sunday to compete in the Simpson Invitational.