March 19, 2024

Cardinal harriers run in tough meet at Indianola

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INDIANOLA — Newton High’s cross country runners competed on another warmer-than-usual fall afternoon Thursday. The Cardinal girls finished 11th and the boys were 14th in the Indianola Invitational, which featured 14 girls’ varsity teams and 18 boys’ varsity teams.

“It was another warm one today, but the girls responded well, and bounced back from the meet on Tuesday,” Newton girls’ head coach Rachelle Tipton said. “Most of the girls ran faster than or similar to what they did earlier in the week, which shows the strength they have. It will be fun when we start to see some cooler weather.”

Freshman Abby Altman led the Cardinal girls at Indianola with a personal-best time of 23 minutes, 6 seconds to finish 44th in the girls’ 5K race. Junior Tessa Keeton finished 56th in 23:48 and senior Ellie Horn placed 77th in 25:45.

There were 98 runners in the varsity girls’ race. Newton ran with a smaller squad Thursday.

Jenna Smith, a freshman, and junior Liz McVey ended up the final two team scoring runners for the Cardinals. Smith was 81st in 26:15 and McVey turned in a personal-best time of 26:19 for 82nd. Freshman Andrea Brown ran 84th in 29:12.

“Abby started to make some moves during the second part of the race and had a fantastic finish,” Tipton said. “She’ll be under 23 minutes soon. I’m proud of Andrea for stepping up to varsity for us. She ran a good race and has gained some experience for the future. We’ll be back on the same course with the full squad in a short 2.5 weeks for the Little Hawkeye Conference meet.”

Class 4A sixth-ranked Ankeny Centennial won the Indianola Invitational varsity girls’ team title with 33 points. Ames, which is ranked 14th in 4A, was second with 61 points, and Class 3A top-ranked Pella was third with 77 points. Newton scored 330 points.

Emma Gordon, a junior from Ankeny Centennial who is ranked No. 10 in 4A, was the individual champion in 19:33. Ottumwa junior Kyle Latham, who is ranked No. 9 in 4A, was second in 19:52. Class 3A 11th-ranked Megan Sievers of Carlisle was third in 20:00.

Newton’s boys scored 420 points in a stacked field with four ranked teams finishing in the top 10. Class 4A 13th-ranked Indianola captured the team title with 54 points followed by 4A’s No. 12 Urbandale in second with 78 points. Pella, ranked No. 7 in 3A, was third with 114 points. Class 4A’s ninth-ranked Johnston was 10th with 271 points.

The Cardinal boys were led again by senior Noah Sander, who ran the 5K race in 18:37. Junior Tyler Dafflitto finished in 81st with a time of 19:40, and junior Dylan Main was 89th in 20:06.

Freshman Luke Zaabel was 98th in 20:35 as Newton’s No. 4 runner for the race. Junior Dalton Pauley had the final team scoring finish, 107th in 21:18.

Junior Ross Hull took 114th in 21:59, and sophomore Connor Moon placed 115th in 23:03. There were 122 runners in the varsity boys’ race.

Newton’s junior varsity boys ran in a field of 429 competitors Thursday. The Cardinals finished 12th as a team with 378 points while Dowling Catholic was first with 15 points, claiming the top eight places.

Jack Callaghan, who has been sidelined with an injury during the early-season races, finished 24th for Newton in 19:04. Junior Brad Portner was 127th in 20:51 followed by sophomore Matt Moran in 148th in 21:10, freshman Addison Dunwell in 292nd in 23:15, senior Spencer Elbert in 317th in 23:44, junior Blake Robson in 321st in 23:46 and junior Chad Nolin in 331st in 23:53.

The Newton teams compete at 5 p.m. Tuesday in the Knoxville Invitational.

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