NHS boys’ medley relay is district champion

BONDURANT — Listening to his relay partners describe his final 100 meters it sounds as if Newton High anchor Brennen Dodd has afterburners on his track shoes.

“I don’t know where it comes from. We always know he has that little extra kick at the end,” Newton sophomore Matthew Karsten said.

“I handed the baton off to him and Brennen took off. He has that ability to just get to another gear at the end. That final 100 meters is amazing,” Newton sophomore Jack Callaghan said.

Running the anchor leg of the 1,600-meter distance medley relay, Dodd rounded the final curve running in third place behind Pella and Grinnell. The top two finishers in the race would secure a spot in the Iowa Class 3A state track meet.

The junior found the gear he needed in the final 100-meter sprint to the finish line. He caught Pella and Grinnell’s anchor runners for a photo finish. The Cardinal foursome of sophomore Clayton Baltisberger, Karsten, Callaghan and Dodd captured a 3A district championship, qualifying for next week’s state track meet.

Dodd crossed the finish line to give Newton a winning time of 3 minutes, 44.26 seconds. Grinnell was second in 3:44.54 and Pella was third in 3:44.56.

The medley relay was the only event Newton’s boys automatically qualified in. Newton High’s girls did not record a district championship, but did automatically qualify in three events at Thursday’s 3A district track and field meet hosted by Bondurant-Farrar.

Newton sophomore Haley Revell had her second-best throw of the season at 37 feet, 6 inches to take second in the girls’ shot put. Senior Sydney Jenkins ran second in the girls’ 400 meters in 1:00.20 then anchored the Cardinal 800-meter sprint relay to a second-place finish.

Combining with Jenkins were sophomore Liz McVey and seniors Alex Hutchinson and Leela Spencer for a time of 1:53.51. The foursome ran in the same event at the Drake Relays in April.

“It feels pretty good. I mean really good to qualify for state,” Revell said. “I just told myself to keep calm today and it worked out for me.”

Newton’s girls had five events in which they finished third and two fourth-place finishes. The Cardinal boys placed third in three races and fourth in a field event. It is a waiting game for these 11 events to see if times and marks are good enough to qualify. They have to be one of eight best performances across the state following the top two in each event at the district meets.

On the girls’ side, freshman Rachel Rhoads was third in the 800 meters in 2:29.86 and combined with freshman Lakin Jenkins, sophomore Tessa Keeton and senior Kaelee Knoll for third in the 4x800 relay race in 10:34.26.

The NHS girls’ 4x100 relay team of Sydney Jenkins, Hutchinson, McVey and Spencer was third in 52.29 seconds. McVey, Hutchinson, Spencer and sophomore Alexis Stout combined for third in the 4x200 relay in 1:51.75.

Stout joined sophomore Audrey Lucas, freshman Abbie Barr and sophomore Morgann Eide to claim third in the shuttle hurdle relay race in 1:11.41. The 4x400 relay foursome of Barr, Rhoads, Keeton and Stout was fourth in 4:25.52, and sophomore Ali Bestell placed fourth in the discus with a toss of 108-1/4.

Karsten ran third in the boys’ 100 meters in 11.59 second and Dodd took third in the 400 in 52.12 seconds. Newton’s 4x400 boys’ relay team of Callaghan, sophomore Jaron Roush, Karsten and Dodd was third in 3:35.32.

Junior Connor Gholson finished fourth in the boys’ long jump with a leap of 21-2. Freshman Jaise Gulling placed fifth in the shot put at 44-0 while sophomore Jace Lukefahr was fifth in the discus at 143-7 1/2 and senior Duncan Lee placed eighth at 123-7.

The Newton boys’ 4x200 relay team of Lee, freshman Coltin Whitten, junior Spencer Elbert and Baltisberger was seventh in 1:43.24. The 4x100 squad of sophomore Josh Miravalles, Lee, Whiten and Baltisberger was seventh in 47.97 seconds.

Junior Noah Sander ran eighth in the 3,200 meters in 11:10.15. Roush placed eighth in the 110-meter high hurdles in 17.14 seconds.

In the girls’ 100-meter high hurdles, Eide took fifth in 16.84 seconds. Stout finished fifth in the 400 hurdles in 1:11.27. Freshman Teddie Brunsmann placed seventh in the 200 meters in 29.20 seconds. The girls’ 1,600 distance medley relay team of Lakin Jenkins and juniors Morgan Allen, Kenna Winther and Ellie Horn was seventh in 4:56.48.

Winther placed fifth in the girls’ long jump with a leap of 15-4. Barr cleared the bar at 4-10 to finish eighth in the high jump.

Newton’s girls finished fifth as a team with 82 points and the boys were seventh in their division with 48 points. Pella won both the boys’ title (182 points) and the girls’ championship (179 points) in the eight-team meet.

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