Newton’s Harris wins Dickinson Relays’ hurdles

CEDAR FALLS — Starting his senior season off strong, Newton High’s Deonne Harris pulled away from the field in the 60-meter hurdle final Tuesday at the 2015 A.D. Dickinson Relays at the UNI-Dome.

Harris posted the top qualifying time in the event. He came back in the final to win the race in 8.23 seconds, which was a personal-best time for the Cardinal hurdler. Keagan Pinter of Cedar Rapids Prairie finished second in 8.45 seconds.

Harris was third in the hurdles a year ago at the Dickinson Relays, which is hosted by University of Northern Iowa. Harris earned a trophy for his victory Tuesday. Medals are awarded to second and third-place finishers.

Senior Jarom Williams turned in a personal-best performance in the long jump. Williams, who was 15th in the event last year, placed ninth with a leap of 20 feet, 7 inches.

“Overall, we were very pleased with how the athletes competed,” said Tom Bartello, Newton boys’ head coach. “We have a mixture of new and experienced athletes, who have been working hard to prepare for our first competition.”

Williams placed 79th in the 200-meter dash in 25.85 seconds. Freshman Matthew Karsten was 93rd in 26.03 seconds and senior Harrison McCarey finished 113th in 26.64 seconds.

In the 400, junior Jake Bennett ran the race in 56.91 seconds for 46th while Williams was 65th in 57.80 and McCarey placed 71st in 58.01. Bennett placed 118th in the 60-meter dash in 7.99 seconds. Freshmen Jaron Roush and Carson Cazett finished 140th and 141st, respectively, in 8.26 seconds and 8.27 seconds.

Senior Christian Laube posted a time of 2 minutes, 15.71 seconds for 49th in the 800 run. Freshman Mikey Bradley was 101st in 2:27.85 and junior Zach Theis finished 118th in 2:33.33.

Senior Mason Bowes finished in a tie for 74th in the shot put event with a throw of 38-1.5. Jace Lukefahr was 91st at 35-6 and freshman Landon Hansen also competed in the event.

The Cardinals used freshman foursomes to compete in the 4x200 relay and the 4x400 relay. Josh Marvelli, Cazett, Jaron Roush and Karsten combined for a time of 1:45.35 for 41st in the 4x200. In the 4x400, Clayton Baltisberger, De’Andre Roush, Blake Rhodes and Dylan Main placed 48th in 4:40.04.

Newton’s 4x800-meter relay team of Laube, Bradley, Theis and Main was 42nd in 9:53.21.

“We were excited to see some payoffs right away with some personal-bests from many returning runners and who have set the bar high for our underclassmen,” Bartello said. “It was a great start and we are looking forward to seeing a few more runners and events at Grinnell on Thursday.”

Newton competes in Thursday’s Little Hawkeye Conference Indoor Meet at Grinnell College. Competition begins at 4:15 p.m.

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