OSKALOOSA — Newton High senior Noah Sander, sophomore Rachel Rhoads and freshman Abby Altman captured individual medals at Tuesday’s Oskaloosa Invitational cross country meet. They led the Cardinal girls and boys to fifth-place team finishes.
“The girls ran very well,” Newton girls’ head coach Rachelle Tipton said. “Abby really stepped up today, it was exciting for her to medal.”
Ottumwa won the girls’ varsity team title with 61 points followed by Williamsburg in second with 70 points. Fairfield scored 80 for third and Oskaloosa had 90 points for fourth in the 10-team division.
Newton’s girls scored 107 to take fifth, placing three runners in the top 25. Rhoads ran the 5K race in 22 minutes, 19 seconds for eighth place. Altman set a personal record, taking 15th in 23:38.
Albia senior Jordan Winke won the girls’ varsity race in 20:08.
Abbie Barr, another sophomore, finished 25th in a season’s-best time of 24:18.
Senior Ellie Horn took 31st in 25:00 followed by junior Tessa Keeton in 32nd in 25:03. Freshman Jenna Smith and junior Liz McVey ran personal-best times of 26:33 and 27:04, respectively, to finish 50th and 54th.
“Abbie ran smart, and is starting to come on strong,” Tipton said. “Ellie and Tessa did a good job of pushing each other through the last part of the race. Jenna and Liz continue to get stronger and improve.”
Sander paced the Cardinal boys earning the seventh-place medal in 18:41. Ottumwa senior Dalton Bowers ran the 5K race in a winning time of 18:12.3.
Clear Creek-Amana took the boys’ varsity team championship with 46 points and Oskaloosa was second with 52. Williamsburg scored 85 point for third and Ottumwa was fourth with 125 points.
Newton’s boys were in a four-team battle right in the middle of the 13-team field. The Cardinal boys scored 175 points to place fifth, edging out Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont (177), Fairfield (178) and Knoxville (179).
“The margin of victory was so close if any of our five scoring runners were passed by a runner or two, it would have been the difference between fifth and eighth place,” Newton boys’ head coach Steve Weeks said. “The team sat down to discuss running fatigue and general burn-out after a lackluster performance at Grinnell. The runners set goals to beat two teams which outperformed us last week, place at least fifth at a meet, and to qualify for state as a team in 4A competition. They have now accomplished three out of the four.”
Newton’s No. 2 runner at Oskaloosa was sophomore Adam Hunter, finishing 21st in 19:30. Junior Tyler Dafflitto took 38th in 20:23 followed by junior Dylan Main in 52nd at 20:40 and freshman Luke Zaabel in 57th at 20:50.
Juniors Dalton Pauley and Chad Nolin were 74th and 79th, respectively, in 22:10 and 22:55.6.
Newton’s junior varsity boys were eighth out of nine teams. Sophomore Connor Moon led the way placing 34th in 22:55.3 and junior Ross Hull in 38th in 23:04. Senior Spencer Elbert placed 59th in 24:01, junior Blake Robson was 71st in 24:39 and freshman Addison Dunwell was 77th in 24:53.
“The competition between Ross and Connor helped push Conner to a time which will earn him a spot on the varsity team next week,” Weeks said.
The Newton girls’ junior varsity was fourth with 90 points.
“The team ran great tonight,” Tipton said of the girls’ junior varsity. “They did an excellent job of packing up and pushing each other throughout the race. To have three runners in the top 20 is just plain exciting.”
Newton had four runners finish in the top 21 paced by freshman Andrea Brown in 15th and senior Katherine Thorpe in 16th with the same time of 27:59. Senior Jordyn Soule was 20th in 28:18 and senior Michaella Cope was 21st in 28:29. Freshman Abby Davis took 34th in 29:55.
The non-team scoring runners for Newton were: 40. junior Hannah Boeker, 32:39; 41. sophomore Rachelle Romo, 32:47; 43. junior Maddie Bleeker, 33:19; 44. freshman Maddie Walker, 33:46; 47. junior Rylie Bakalar.
Newton’s cross country teams run at home Tuesday in the Cardinal Invitational at Westwood Golf Course. Middle school races begin at 4:15 p.m. followed by junior varsity races at 5 p.m. The varsity girls’ race is scheduled for 5:50 p.m. and the boys’ varsity race is at 6:20 p.m.
Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535 or jsheets@newtondailynews.com