March 18, 2024

Coen sets school record

As the saying goes. records are meant to be broken. This was especially evident on Monday afternoon at the Dickinson Relays held at the University of Northern Iowa. Freshman Grace Coen represented the Newton girls track team in both the 1500-meter run and the 800.

The Cardinals sent two girls to the heralded Dickinson Relays. The girls represented the Cardinals in two track events as well as one field event. Coen, as previously mentioned, ran for the Cardinals in the 800 and the 1500, while Newton sophomore Sarah Kalkhoff threw in the shot put event.

Coen ran a 4:48.19 in the 1500, breaking a six-year-old school record previously held by Casey McDermott with a time of 4:49.18. The frosh standout finished third overall in the event with that record-setting time in a field of more than 40 girls from around the state. She finished four seconds better than her qualifying time.

Coen’s 800 run was almost equally impressive. She finished with a time of 2:20.18, placing her second to Woodward-Granger’s senior 800 runner, Haley Manning. Manning’s time of 2:19.94 gave her the top spot over Coen by less than three-tenths of a second.

Newton's other competitor at UNI was the aforementioned Kalkhoff. Kalkhoff finished tied for ninth with Iowa City West's Jamie Wichhart in a field of more than 50 athletes. She threw the shot 34 feet, 3 inches in the final.

"Both girls represented the Newton Track & Field team well," Newton coach Rachel Tomas said. "I am proud of Grace and her breaking the 1500m run record this early in the season. Her out of season efforts are paying off early."