March 28, 2024

Cardinal girls claim second at South Tama meet

Newton girls win four events, boys claim one event title

TAMA — It just doesn’t seem fair.

Newton High’s track teams competed in an indoor meet with the sun shining on a perfect, warm March day, and Tuesday, the Cardinal athletes competed under less-than ideal spring weather at the South Tama Early Bird Invitational.

The Cardinals battle the elements in good fashion coming out with five event titles. Newton’s girls finished second to host South Tama in the team standings in the field of seven schools. East Marshall won the boys’ team title in a field of eight teams, and Newton’s boys placed fifth.

“We had a great night of competition considering the weather was not as favorable as we would have liked,” said Rachel Tomas, Newton girls’ head coach.

“The girls came out ready to compete and were fighting for placing,” Tomas said.

Newton senior Sarah Kalkhoff captured two event titles, winning the shot put with a throw of 38 feet, 2 inches and the discus with a distance of 126-8. Teammate Haley Revell placed third in the shot put at 32-9.5 and fourth in the discus at 92-11.

The girls’ 4x200-meter relay team of Sydney Jenkins, Alex Hutchinson, Leela Spender and Alexis Stout posted a winning time of 1 minute, 52.6 seconds. The same foursome won the 4x100-meter relay race in 53.33 seconds.

Newton senior Deonne Harris recorded another victory in the boys’ 110-meter high hurdles. Harris’ winning time was 14.70 seconds.

“The weather was a big factor in our meet last night, times were not outstanding,” said Tom Bartelo, Newton boys’ head coach. “The boys competed well considering the conditions and we did have a few top finishers and personal-bests.”

Bartello said Tuesday’s meet was a good practice run for what a meet can look and feel like in poor weather conditions. While it can make events tougher, it was a good learning opportunity for the athletes so they can be more prepared to run competitively in all conditions, he said.

“Our meet on Thursday will likely be similar conditions and now they have an idea of what to expect and how to better prepare for these types of meets,” Bartello said. Newton’s boys compete at Des Moines Lincoln Thursday.

Senior Christian Laube placed third in the 800-meter run in 2:15 with Mikey Bradley taking sixth in 2:27. Laube finished third in the 1,600 in 4:54 and Zach Theis was 10th in 5:31.09.

Jarom Williams, another senior, was edged out by Wapsie Valley’s Caleb Knipp in the 100-meter dash. Knipp won in 11.72 seconds and Williams came across in 11.73.

Carson Cazett was 15th in the 200 in 26.94 and Jaron Roush took 16th in 27.06. Jake Bennett was fourth in the 400 in 56.43 followed by Jack Callaghan in fifth place at 56.56.

The NHS boys’ 4x400 relay team finished third in 3:56.83 and the distance medley relay team took fourth in 4:09.56. The 4x200 and 4x800 relays took sixth in 1:44.25 and 9:56, respectively.

Mason Bowes placed fouth in the shot put with a throw of 40-9 and Jace Lukefahr was ninth at 36-5. Bowes and Lukefahr went sixth and seventh, respectively, in the discus with throws of 122-2 and 118-10.

Newton’s girls had Jenkins placing second in the 200 meters in 27.01 seconds and Liz McVey in fifth at 29.06. Senior Hailey Coy caputured second place in the 800 meters in 2:38.75.

Spencer took fourth in the 100 meters in 13.93 seconds and Serenity Stier was 13th in 15.43. Sydney Hook finished ninth in the 400 meters in 1:13.43 and Kayla Botterbrodt was 12th in 1:20.30.

Autumn Hunt ran second in the 1,500 in 6:00 and Madison Bleeker was 10th in 6:30. Hunt placed third in the 3,000 meters and Michaella Cope was seventh in 11:43 and 14:27, respectively.

Morgan Eide was fourth in teh 100-meter hurdles in 17.18 seconds and Taylor Shipley finished eighth in 18.52. Eide combined with Stout, Fran Lucas and Anna Barr to take second in the shuttle hurdle relay race in 1:12. Stout was third in the 400 hurdles in 1:14.80 and Barr was seventh in 1:22.23.

The distance medley relay team of Jordan Banfield, Kenna Winther, Coy and Tessa Keeton was second in 4:52. Kaelee Knoll, Bleeker, Megan Van Dalen and Sarah Prendergast combined for fifth in the 4x800 in 12:05.

Newton’s 4x400-meter relay team of Jenkins, Keeton, Barr and Coy placed fourth in 4:42.64. The 800 sprint medley relay foursome of Banfield, Winther, Stier and Hook placed sixth in 2:17.57.

Winther claimed second in the long jump with a leap of 14-5. Bleeker tied for fourth in the high jump, clearing the bar at 4-4.

Newton’s girls are back in action Saturday at the Oskaloosa meet. The Cardinal boys compete at Oskaloosa also.

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