A number of great showings guided the William Penn track and field squads at the Midwest Collegiate Conference Outdoor Championships Thursday through Saturday.

The Statesmen men were third with 167 points, while the women finished fifth with 55.5 points. St. Ambrose swept the titles with 253 points on both sides.

Cornelius McCastle topped the men as he was named MCC Co-Field Athlete of the Year. The sophomore won the high jump at 6-8 and was also second in the triple jump (46-1.25) and third in the long jump (22-9). It is his second AOY award of his career (both this year). He shared this honor with Keegan Bludworth of Viterbo.

Eight of his teammates also scored points in multiple events. Derek Seddon was equally impressive, headlined by a school-record and winning discus toss of 175-1. He was also third in the shot put (46-8) and fourth in the hammer (154-5).

Yonas Desta, however, had to be the biggest two-event scorer, joining McCastle and Seddon in the winner’s circle. Desta claimed the 5,000-meter run title in 15:50.96, while also taking fourth in the 1,500 at 4:13.02.

Keonte White of Grand View was tabbed as MCC Track Athlete of the Year, while St. Ambrose’s Dan Tomlin won the Coach of the Year honor.

Tarah Alexander paced the women’s efforts as she was the lone event champion. The junior took the 800-meter run crown in 2:17.46 and was also seventh in the pole vault at 8-0.5.

Meaghan Foster earned two high placings as well, taking third in the shot put (42-4) and eighth in the hammer (132-11).

Molly Jo Smith of St. Ambrose was named MCC Track Athlete of the Year, while Grand View’s Val Veiock received the Field AOY accolade. Tomlin finished off the COY sweep with the women’s honor.

Next Up: William Penn will compete in a Last Chance Meet next Saturday at an event yet to be determined.

The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union has released the regional tennis pairings for the team state championship at both levels.

In Class 1A, Region 4 has the most action from around the area. Pella will be hosting four of the 16 team field, and Oskaloosa will be competing with Knoxville in the first round. Winner of that dual will face either the host Dutch or Albia. The first round for all matches begins at 9 AM on Saturday, May 16th. The second round will be around 1 PM. The last team standing from the four team section will advance to the regional final at the University of Iowa Tennis Center in Iowa City on Saturday, May 23rd. The regional final winner will meet the team who made it through the other seven in the other half of the bracket in the first round of the state tournament in Muscatine on Tuesday, May 26th.

In the other half of the bracket, Maharishi is hosting Fairfield, Davis County, and Mount Pleasant in their four-team bracket. The team who makes it out of there will have their regional final in Fort Madison on the 23rd.

In Class 1A Region 3, Pella Christian is hosting Centerville, Chariton, and Grinnell. The Eagles will also host that bracket’s regional final, even if they don’t advance.

In Class 2A, Ottumwa is in Region 4 and received a first round bye. The Bulldogs will face either Iowa City West or Burlington in Cedar Rapids on Saturday, May 23rd at 9 AM. The Bulldogs need just two dual wins to qualify for the state tournament.

Click this link for a view of the full brackets: http://ighsau.org/2015/04/30/2015-regional-team-tennis-pairings/

Advancing is the name of the game at this time of the year and the Statesmen softball team found a way to do just that with a 9-8 win over #6 seed Mount Mercy in the first round of the Midwest Collegiate Conference Tournament Thursday.

#3 seed William Penn (22-28) rallied with five runs in the bottom of the sixth to move onto the Final Four Tournament Saturday and Sunday. The squad will open the double-elimination event by facing #2 Clarke Saturday at 10 a.m.

On Thursday, each side produced a run in the first frame. Bri Zerley put the home team on the board by singling home Jorden Steele.

The Mustangs, who ended their year at 19-27, went back on top with two runs in the second (two WPU errors helped), but Marissa Pereyra gave the Statesmen their first lead with a three-run home run in the third. Pereyra now has two roundtrippers on the year.

The navy and gold continued to hold a 4-3 advantage into the fifth, but MMU tied it up with a homer of its own. Unfortunately, the visitors broke up the tie with a huge two-out rally in the sixth, plating four runs to lead 8-4.

Completely unfazed by what had just transpired, William Penn put its first six batters on base in the bottom half. With assistance from two Mustang errors, the hosts tallied five runs to claim the edge for good. Brittanee Grove had arguably the biggest hit with a two-run double.

The senior then closed it out with a perfect seventh frame. She started the game, but struggled through her first 2 1/3 innings. Lunden Young then replaced her and was solid for a while, until being knocked around herself in the sixth.

Grove (12-7) eventually went 3 1/3 frames (two strikeouts), while Young tossed 3 2/3 innings (one strikeout).

Zerley paced the offense with a 3-for-4 showing, including two RBIs and two runs scored. Ashlee Dennis, Taylor Vernon and Sydney Edwards all went 2-for-3 with a run scored (Dennis also had an RBI), while Pereyra had three RBIs and Grove had two. Steele matched Zerley by touching home plate on two occasions.

Gabrielle Braniff also walked twice in the victory. The Statesmen outhit the Mustangs 11-10 and overcame four errors.

The Oskaloosa Boys’ Golf Team finished in ninth place at the huge Moravia Invitational at the The Preserve Golf Course. Centerville won the event with a 304. Pella was second at 314, Knoxville finished in third at 328, Des Moines Christian finished in fourth at 330, and Mount Pleasant was fifth at 338. Osky shot a 345. The Indians were led by Spencer Tucker, who shot an 81. The Indian boys’ golf team is back in action Saturday at Fairfield.

The Oskaloosa Girls’ Track and Field team was in action at the Pella Tulip Time Relays last night and had a solid outing, setting six personal bests. Taylor Richardson got the only win for the Indians, however. She finished first in the long jump with a distance of 16-5.5. There are no team scores, as they are under question for the time being. Osky’s girls’ team will be back in action on Monday at the Little Hawkeye Conference Championships.

The Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont Girls’ Track and Field team was in action in Pella as well, and they grabbed a couple of wins in their division. The shuttle hurdle relay team of Sadie Baugher, Torie Alexander, Briana Ver Steegh, and Karlie Taylor got the win with a time of 1:10.20. Karlie Taylor grabbed the win in the 100 meter hurdles in a time of 15.38 seconds. It was another great outing for the long jumpers, as Emma Bunnell got the win at 15-9.5 and teammate Sadie Baugher got second right behind her at 15-9. EBF will be in action for the South Central Conference Championships next Thursday.

In that same division, Pella Christian was in action in girls’ track and field. Although there were no wins, there were several high finishes. Pekin would win the small school division going away with 195 points. Lynnville-Sully was in second at 123, North Mahaska finished third at 101, EBF slid into fourth with 97 points, Pella Christian had 61 points in fifth, and Twin Cedars finished in sixth.