Kapande inducted into Mount Mercy HOF

CEDAR RAPIDS - Just five years after her college graduation, former Mt. Pleasant track and field star Mwale Kapande was inducted into the Mount Mercy University Athletic Hall of Fame this weekend.

Kapanda was a 16-time state placewinner at Mt. Pleasant and a state champion in the long jump. She was a seven-time college All-American, attending Graceland right out of high school and then moving on to Mt. Mercy where she was an All-American five times.

Kapande came to America from Zambia and lived in Fairfield before coming to Mt. Pleasant.

Long Jump coach Daryl Shy recalled Kapande's work ethic, saying she would call him to do workouts even after college. After graduation, she also trained with Mt. Pleasant track star Leslie Taylor, who helped carry the torch for the Panther girls shortly after Kapande's graduation.

Athletes must wait five years after graduation to be inducted into Mount Mercy's Hall of Fame, so this was the first year she was eligible, making her a first ballot hall of famer.