April 25, 2024

Newton’s Coen claims Dickinson Relays hardware

Newton’s Grace Coen, seen here in a relay race during last year’s indoor track season, claimed second place in two distance races Monday at UNI. (Jocelyn Sheets)

CEDAR FALLS — Proving once again she is one of the top distance runners in Iowa high school girls’ ranks indoor and outdoor, Newton High junior Grace Coen captured two second-place medals at the 2015 A.D. Dickinson Relays at the UNI-Dome Monday.

Coen began the Relays with a strong run in the 1,500-meters. She posted a second-place time of 4 minutes, 49.55 seconds behind winner Rebekah Topham of Griswold in 4:42.12.

Later in the meet, hosted by Northern Iowa, Coen ran in a tight 800-meter race with Joy Ripslinger of Davenport Assumption and Caroline Marnin of Ames. Ripslinger won the race in 2:18 with Coen edging out Marnin at the finish line for second place. Coen’s time was 2:19.60 and Marnin’s time was 2:19.90.

The top three finishers in each event earned awards.

“It was an impressive day of competition for the girls. We have started the season off well with competitive marks, especially for indoor,” said Rachel Tomas, Newton girls’ head coach. “The girls are definitely working to have another successful season and have started us off in the right direction.”

Senior Sarah Kalkholf placed seventh in the shot put event with a throw of 36 feet, 7.5 inches. In the 200-meter dash, Leela Spencer, a junior, finished in 27th in 28.57 seconds and freshman Randi Walters was 128th in 32.27 seconds.

Senior Hailey Coy posted a time of 1:07.87 for 44th in the 400-meter dash. Anna Barr, another senior, finished 63rd in the 60-meter hurdles in 11.10 seconds.

Newton’s 4x200-meter relay team of junior Sydney Jenkins, Walters, freshman Alexis Stout and Spencer placed 21st in 1:546.68. Jenkins, Barr, Coy and Stout combined to post a time of 4:32.33 for 20th in the 4x400-meter relay.

“We only had a small group competing at UNI, so I am excited to see how the whole team does on Thursday at Grinnell,” Tomas said.

Newton competes in the Little Hawkeye Conference Indoor Meet at Grinnell College Thursday.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535 or jsheets@newtondailynews.com