Oskaloosa–Caleb Pipes-Goulsbra (Jr., Lincoln, England, Exercise Science) was simply trying to help out his old team by playing Saturday night, but because of his tremendous outing, the ‘retired’ goalkeeper has been named Heart of America Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Week Monday.

A first-time winner, Pipes-Goulsbra was no longer a member of the soccer team, having transitioned over to football this fall.  However, he accepted the offer by Head Coach Jaymee Highcock to start; Highcock was in need of a keeper after his starter went down with an injury.  It was a great move by both coach and player as Pipes-Goulsbra stopped 16 shots as part of a 1-1 tie with #10 Baker.

In the draw, he tallied five saves in the first half, seven in the second, and added four more in extra play.  The save tally is the largest in program history over the past 10 years.

The weekly award is the first for the program.

Oskaloosa–Jamal Boma (Sr., Des Moines, Iowa, Business Management and Physical Education) and Guadalupe Gonzalez (Jr., Houston, Texas, Exercise Science) posted two of the best finishes in their respective program’s histories and they were rewarded for those exceptional outings by being named Heart of America Athletic Conference Cross Country Runners of the Week Monday.

Boma, now a two-time winner (back-to-back weeks), finished fourth out of 292 competitors at the Brissman/Lundeen Invitational last Friday.  His time is the eight-fastest 8K in school history and the fastest since 2003.

Gonzalez also earned her second career honor (won once last year) by placing 23rd out of 226 women on the 6K course at 25:17.1.  Her time is the seventh-best ever at WPU (since 2001).

WPU has now claimed three weekly awards this fall (two men, one women)

Story provided by Wade Steinlage

Oskaloosa–The Statesmen women’s soccer team knocked a big monkey off its shoulder as it slipped past Heart of America Athletic Conference foe Avila 1-0 in double overtime Saturday.

After playing scoreless with the Eagles (2-5-1, 0-2 Heart) for 107 minutes, Camila Parra (Jr., Brisbane, Australia, Exercise Science) and the navy and gold finally broke through.  Bre Johnson (Jr., Arvada, Colo., Information Technology) sent a ball into the box and Alyce Correia (Sr., Perth, Australia, Elementary Education) had a touch on it before Parra put it in the back of the net for her first goal of the season at the 107:58 mark.

Parra’s goal snaps a four-game scoreless stretch for William Penn (3-5, 1-2 Heart).  The Statesmen dominated much of Saturday’s action with a 17-4 edge in shots, including four each from Parra and AnnaMarie Urps (So., Wilton, Calif., Physical Education).

Adriana Borjon (Sr., Willits, Calif., Exercise Science) came up with three saves for her first shutout of the fall.

“We got tonight’s result because we did not give up on each other and finally made the pressure count,” Head Coach Willie McGowan said.  “I am really happy for the team.  We have been in that position a few times this year and came out on the losing end, but tonight they kept believing in themselves and it worked.”

“We have shown a few times this year how good we can be and how far we have come as a program in the last few years,” McGowan added.  “We just have not hit the back of the net enough this season and hopefully this result can spur us on a bit and give us the confidence to take the chances when they arrive.”

Next Up: William Penn remains in Oskaloosa Wednesday to host Grand View in Heart action at 5 p.m.

Story provided by Wade Steinlage

Marshall, Mo.–The Statesmen volleyball team will need to wait another night to pick up its first league victory as it fell 3-0 to Missouri Valley in Heart of America Athletic Conference action.

William Penn (3-13, 0-2 Heart) lost by scores of 17-25, 17-25, 15-25.

The visitors played even through the first half of the initial set, but at 13-13, the Vikings (16-5, 1-1 Heart) tallied five straight points and took the 1-0 advantage.

WPU responded well, scoring the first four points of the second round.  Unfortunately, MVC rallied back to lead 8-7.  The navy and gold kept close to tie the score at 11-11, but the hosts reeled off eight in a row and cruised to a decisive lead.

Another good start was recorded by William Penn in the third set as it led 7-6.  The Statesmen were still in contention later, trailing by just one at 16-15.  Missouri Valley had one final run, though, finishing off the night with nine consecutive points.

Savanna Hartman (Sr., Morgan Hill, Calif., Psychology) and Claire Simmons (So., Williamsburg, Iowa, Psychology) each tallied a team-high five kills, while setters Kathleen Steffen (So., Vinton, Iowa, Biology), with 10 assists, and Haley Smith (So., Adrian, Mich., Elementary Education), with seven, guided the offense.

Ashley Miller (So., Kalona, Iowa, Exercise Science) (13 digs) and Nicole Harrison (Sr., San Diego, Calif., Biology) (one solo block, one block assist) topped the defensive effort.

Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa Friday to host Benedictine in Heart action at 7 p.m.

Story provided by Wade Steinlage

Oskaloosa–Jamal Boma (Sr., Des Moines, Iowa, Business Management and Physical Education) destroyed a school record en route to being named Heart of America Athletic Conference Men’s Cross Country Runner of the Week Monday.

Boma, who earned his first career honor, won the Grand View Invitational Friday with a time of 19:21.4.  He took the crown easily in the 58-person race, defeating the runner-up by over 24 seconds.

The six-kilometer distance is one that the men rarely compete in (only a few times in the past decade), but Boma now sits at the top of the record list (all marks since 2001), surpassing the old mark of 20:25 by Blake Wallace in 2008.

The award is the first for the program this year.  It is also the fourth-straight year that the WPU men have claimed a POW honor.

Story provided by Wade Steinlage

Fayette, Mo.–After three disappointing weeks to begin the campaign, the Statesmen football team finally broke into the win column with a 34-21 victory over Central Methodist in Heart of America Athletic Conference North-South crossover action Saturday.

William Penn (1-3) and Central Methodist (1-3) exchanged blows throughout the first three quarters, but the visiting Statesmen and sophomore fullback Nate Van Veldhuizen (Oskaloosa, Iowa, Mechanical Engineering) closed strong to wrap up the first of hopefully many W’s.

The navy and gold forced the Eagles into a three-and-out to start the afternoon and then a heavy dose of Van Veldhuizen guided WPU to taking a 7-0 lead just 4:22 into the matchup.  Van Veldhuizen, who carried 20 times for 180 yards, had five rushes in his team’s opening drive and capped it with a one-yard plunge.

Another defensive stop set up a second-straight Central Methodist punt.  This time around,Nate Deadmond (Fr., Webb City, Mo., Undecided) made a bee line towards the punter and blocked the kick.  The freshman then finished off the impressive individual play by recovering the loose ball in the endzone to put WPU ahead 14-0 only 86 seconds after its first score.

A bit later in the quarter, CMU took advantage of obtaining possession in Statesmen territory and cut the margin in half with a quick TD.

William Penn failed to do anything on its following drive, but stuck the Eagles as deep as possible with a punt.  Unfortunately, Central Methodist went the distance and knotted the score at 14-14 early in the second quarter.

Both sides had chances to build their tallies late in the half.  CMU pushed the pigskin deep twice, but Winston Green (Jr., Sacramento, Calif., Psychology and Sociology) ended the first try with an interception in the endzone and then did it again in front of the goal line on the following drive.

The home squad continued its streak of unanswered points with a final touchdown at the 11:46 mark of the third period.

The navy and gold finally decided enough was enough at that point.  Ray Watson (So., Apple Valley, Minn., Physical Education) returned the kickoff 45 yards and Eric Cooper (Jr., Aguanga, Calif., Human Services) finished it off with a 28-yard scoring pass to Desmond Douglas (Sr., Decatur, Ala., Physical Education) to make the score 21-21.  Douglas caught two balls for 38 yards.

Following five consecutive combined punts, Cooper, who finished 4-for-7 for 138 yards, hooked up with Van Parker (Jr., Muskegon, Mich., Physical Education) for 60 yards to start the touchdown drive that put William Penn up for good.  Parker hauled in two receptions for 100 yards.

Van Veldhuizen then recorded his second TD of the day, this time a six-yard rush to paydirt.

The Statesmen ‘D’ was up to the challenge one more time, giving the ball back to Van Veldhuizen and company for the finishing touches.  Facing a huge second down with 26 yards to go, WPU turned to the sophomore and he broke free for a 68-yard scoring scamper.

At game’s end, William Penn outgained CMU 434-365, including 296 on the ground.  In addition to Van Veldhuizen’s monster amount, Cooper also added 58 rushing yards Saturday.

Defensively, Vasquez was the leading tackler with nine stops, while the Statesmen sacked CMU’s quarterback four times.  Anthony Jackson (So., Detroit, Mich., Physical Education) produced two sacks as did Resean Coleman (So., River Rouge, Mich., Exercise Science).

“We are so proud of our kids,” Head Coach Todd Hafner said.  “We faced a lot of adversity, but found a way to overcome by hanging in there and battling.  We will continue to improve and hopefully we can go on a streak.”

Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa next Saturday to host Evangel in a Heart North-South crossover game at noon.

Story provided by Wade Steinlage

The Oskaloosa Freshman traveled to Southeast Warren on Monday night to take on the Warhawk JV team and they came away with a 28-6 victory.

The Warhawks scored early in the game but the Indians were able to stop them on the 2 point conversion to hold them to 6 points and that would be all the points they could muster on the night as the defense played strong the rest of the way coming away with a couple of interceptions and a fumble recovery as well.

Oskaloosa scored on its first drive on a 29 yard run by Tyler Miller around the outside to get the game started, 7-0.  Iszac Schultz was the next Indian to cross the goal line for the Indians as he scored on a 6 yard run up the middle to make it 14-6.  Oskaloosa would score a little later in the game on a nice run by Brayden VanKampen who scored on a 15 yard touchdown run to make the game 21-6.  The final score of the game came on a 41 yard pass from Miller to Cody Gunn that made the final score 28-6.  Aaron Blom came in and kicked the extra points going 4-4 with a couple of them going into the hayfield across the street.  He also had a couple of touchbacks on the kick-offs as well.

During the game 7 different players carried the ball and 5 different players caught passes on the night getting everyone involved.  The 7 different Indians ran the ball for a total of 241 yards as Miller led the way with 101 of those yards and followed closely by Schultz with 91, VanKampen with 24, C.Butler with 10, K. Butler with 9, Krier with 3, and Deney with 2.  Receiveing for the Indians was led by Gunn with 41 yards, Miller with 39 yards, VanKampen with 26 yards, VanVeldhuizen with 18 yards and C. Butler with 5.

The Defense was a well balanced team as everyone was doing their part on the night.  Schultz led the way with 8 tackles, Noah VanVeldhuizen had 7, Blom had 6, Wyatt Krier had 6, Miller had 5, Gunn had 4, Cale Hoover had 2, Ford had 2, Sarver had 2, K.Butler had 2, and Deney had 1.  Reece Sarver also had 22 yards on Punt returns.  Aaron Blom had an interception and Schultz had a strip and fumble recovery.

The Indians hope to continue to raise the bar on Friday night as they host the Mount Pleasant Panthers at home with the game starting at 5:00pm.

Fayette, Mo.–The Statesmen volleyball team was seeking to avenge a loss two weekends ago, but came up short on the road in a 3-1 Heart of America Athletic Conference loss to Central Methodist Tuesday.

William Penn (3-11, 0-1 Heart) lost by scores of 15-25, 26-24, 18-25, 19-25.  The navy and gold had previously lost to the Eagles (15-3, 1-0 Heart) on September 3; that loss came as a sweep, so by taking a set Tuesday, WPU certainly showed improvement.

The visitors failed to do much in the opening set, but were much stronger in the second go round to even things up.  CMU held the upper hand in the end, however, to hand WPU a loss in its Heart opener.

Claire Simmons (So., Williamsburg, Iowa, Psychology) had her name called quite often Tuesday, tallying 13 kills during a 47-attack night.  She also served up one of her squad’s three aces.

Savanna Hartman (Sr., Morgan Hill, Calif., Psychology) was in double figures as well with 10, whileShawni Wills (Sr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Biology) added six winners.  Lilly Martinez (Sr., Oakland, Calif., Psychology) contributed just five kills, but managed those in only 12 tries for a team-best .333 attack clip.

Kathleen Steffen (So., Vinton, Iowa, Biology), with 21 assists, and Haley Smith (So., Adrian, Mich., Elementary Education), with 17, were fairly even in the two-setter formation.

Ashley Miller (So., Kalona, Iowa, Exercise Science) topped the Statesmen defense with 17 digs.

“We continue to have plenty of good moments, but unfortunately there are far too many bad ones as well,” Head Coach Jennifer Carlson said.  “If we want a change at winning these big matches, we need to put it all together for a full match.”

Next Up: William Penn travels to Indianola Thursday to face Simpson in non-conference action at 7:30 p.m.

Story provided by Wade Steinlage

Storm Lake–Another event meant another crown for the Statesmen women’s golf team as it cruised at the Buena Vista Invitational Saturday and Sunday.

#21 WPU was first out of 11 teams with a final tally of 632 (316-316) at the par-72 Lake Creek Country Club.  Briar Cliff was second at 674 (339-335), while fellow Heart of America Athletic Conference program Peru State was fifth at 699.

Jodi Saito (Sr., Mililani, Hawaii, Education) and Brittany Evans (Fr., Fernley, Nev., Business Management) tied for first place in the 71-player field at 157.  The pair then faced off with Briar Cliff’s Taylor Minger in a playoff where Saito tallied a par to win the individual title; Evans was second.

Saito carded scores of 78-79, while Evans shot an 81 and then a 76.

“Jodi and Brittany were excellent, and when conditions became more difficult on day two they really dug deep to help carry the team,” Head Coach Nik Rule said.

The remainder of the varsity finished in the top 10 as well with Courtney Cunningham (Sr., Muskogee, Okla., Computer Science) placing fourth at 159 (78-81).  Helene Larsen (So., Viborg, Denmark, Business Management) was next in fifth at 161 (79-82), and Elise Warne (So., Melbourne, Australia, Exercise Science) tied for seventh at 165 (85-80).

Four additional individuals played for the Statesmen as well.  The trio of Carly Schmalz (Sr., Buffalo Lake, Minn., History/Government) (80-85), Alexis Guimaraes (Fr., San Ramon, Calif., Psychology) (86-79), and Miranda Keeler (Jr., Plattsmouth, Neb., Communications) (81-84) all tied Schmalz for seventh.  Brooke Fletcher (Jr., Atlantic, Iowa, Business Management) narrowly missed the top 10, placing 11th at 166 (82-84).

“We have now accomplished our goal of winning the first three events of the season,” Rule said.  “It puts us in a good spot as we head into the heart of our fall schedule.”

“We did not really do anything terrible this weekend, but we also did not do anything spectacular,” Rule added.  “Sometimes you do not have your best game and we did not have ours, but we still produced respectable results.”

Next Up: William Penn travels to Clayton, Ind. next Saturday and Sunday to compete in the Dan Quayle Collegiate Classic hosted by De Pauw University.  Play will be contested at Deer Creek Golf Course.

Story provided by Wade Steinlage