William Penn University
BETTENDORF —
The Statesmen harriers came up with their best showing of the year Saturday at a course where they will need an even better performance next month.
William Penn placed fourth out of nine teams at the St. Ambrose Fighting Bee Classic. The team tallied 127 points, while Lincoln (Ill.) held off host St. Ambrose by seven points, 41-48. John Darmody of St. Ambrose won the 8K race with a time of 25:43.
The Crow Creek Park course will be the site of November’s Midwest Collegiate Conference Championships. Fellow MCC programs Mount Mercy (3rd), Grand View (6th), and Clarke (7th) were also in the field.
Yanni Gallagher was the top finisher for the Statesmen, placing 10th out of 75 runners with a time of 26:44. His time was the sixth-highest of all the league runners.
Deane Wichelt just missed the top 20, taking the 22nd spot at 27:53, while Nick Thomas and Blake Washington were back-to-back in 32nd and 33rd. Thomas finished in a time of 28:45 and Washington was a second behind at 28:46.
Quintin Marshall rounded out the varsity scoring with a 38th-place finish at 29:17.
“Each of our five team scorers ran personal bests, which considering it was a very cold, windy day, that was quite an accomplishment,” Coach Cody Ingold said. “Every single person stepped up and continued to make significant progress towards our season goal. I am happy with our results, but I know we have some special things in store for the conference meet in four weeks.”
Stepfon Williams headlined the non-scorers in 62nd at 30:48, while Cameron Pittman crossed the line in 68th at 31:51.
William Penn takes a week off before traveling to St. Louis, Mo., on Oct. 20 to compete in the St. Louis Pharmacy Classic.
