Newton's Malow qualifies for 4A state

MARSHALLTOWN — Running a personal-best time at the right time was Newton High sophomore Ashay Malow in Thursday’s Class 4A state cross country qualifying meet at Marshalltown. Marlow ran the 5K course on the Marshalltown Community College campus in 20 minutes, 30.7 seconds.

Her time qualified her for the 2018 Iowa Class 4A State Cross Country Meet on Oct. 27 in Fort Dodge. Marlow was the lone state qualifier from Newton — girls and boys.

“I didn’t have a plan going into the race. I just tried my best,” Malow said after finishing 13th in the race. “It feels really good to be able to go to state. I’m proud of how I ran today.”

Malow said running against her teammates in practices has helped her progression in cross country the past two seasons. Malow had seniors Rachel Rhoads and Clare Muckler leading the way in practices and during competitions.

Rhoads, who had been the Cardinal girls’ top runner all season, came up a few seconds and places short of qualifying for the state meet. The top 15 individual finishers advance to the state meet.

“It was an emotional race today and not in the Lord’s plan for me today,” Rhoads said, finishing 18th in 20:51.4. “My legs just weren’t there today. It was a hard race but I enjoyed my final race.”

Rhoads said it was hard being a few seconds away from a state meet berth. The 15th-place time was 20:41.8.

Newton’s girls finished sixth as a team with 163 points. Class 4A second-ranked Waukee was the team champion with 36 points followed by No. 9 Iowa City West with 58 points and No. 12 Ankeny Centennial with 75 points. All three teams qualified for the state meet.

The girls’ individual winner was 10th-ranked Deniz Ince, Iowa City West senior, in 18:48.8. Eleventh-ranked Ames junior Camille Jackson was second in 18:55.0 and sixth-ranked Peyton Kelderman, a sophomore, was third in 19:00.4.

The Cardinal boys placed seventh in the field of nine 4A teams. They scored 207 points.

Fifth-ranked Waukee claimed the boys’ team title with 35 points with unranked Iowa City West taking second with 48 points and No. 12 Ames with 63 points was third. All three advance to the state 4A meet.

Iowa City West senior Kolby Greiner, who is ranked No. 4, won the boys’ race in 15:51.1. No. 14-ranked Aniey Akok, Ames sophomore, placed second in 16:22.5 and No. 23-ranked Travis Locke, a Waukee senior, was third in 16:31.3.

Freshman Treycen Garton was the top finisher for the Newton boys in the state qualifying meet. Garton posted a time of 18:10.9 for the 5K race to place 34th. The boys’ lone senior on the varsity squad, Adam Hunter, ended up 38th in his final high school race, running it in 18:27.5.

“It was really intense today. Everybody went out incredibly fast,” Hunter said of the race. “There was a lot of good competition but halfway through I developed a side-stitch. I think I could have pushed through it better.”

Newton’s other varsity senior ran for the Cardinal girls. Muckler was the girls’ No. 3 runner on Thursday finishing 35th in 22:37.9. Freshman Morgan Stalzer placed 43rd in 23:06.4 followed by sophomore Willow Oswalt in 54th at 24:39.9.

Right behind Oswalt was freshman Kelsey Church in 24:42.7 for 55th. Junior Jenna Smith placed 59th in 25:51.3.

Junior Luke Zaabel was the No. 2 runner for Newton’s boys on Thursday, finishing 36th in 18:10.2. Freshman Jackson Mace-Maynard was 43rd in 18:36.4 and freshman Nathnail Zemene was 56th in 19:39.3.

Freshmen Derek Beiner and Hunter Kennedy were 59th and 60th, respectively, in 20:14.8 and 20:21.3.

“Everyone did have a good race today and it was a good way to end our season,” Newton girls’ head coach Rachelle Tipton said. “It was exciting to see Ashay break through like she did, if there’s ever a meet to do it at this is it. For Rachel though it’s bittersweet for us. She was just on the outside of qualifying.”

Tipton said getting to state was a goal for Rhoads so it was tough not seeing the senior return to a state meet. As a freshman, Rhoads competed in the 2015 Class 3A state cross country meet finishing 27th but had not made it back to state meet races the past three years.

“But when we think about where Rachel was last year, and how far she’s come, we have to realize how great of a season she has had,” Tipton said. “She should be running in the Iowa senior all-star meet so she’ll have one more opportunity to go out and leave it all out there.

“Clare and Rachel both had tough seasons last year hampered with injury and illness. Where Clare came from and how far she’s come I’m so proud.”

Rhoads came back from knee surgery and had some health issues during her junior season. She offered some advice to the younger members of the Newton girls’ team.

“Just keep persisting through the trails and everything because it will make you better. One of my favorite verses from Romans talks about the testing of your faith produces perseverance and perseverance produces character,” Rhoads said. “You’re going to face adversity, but it’s all about how you respond.”

Rhoads said she’s enjoyed the past four years in a fun sport. She said it’s easy to get caught up in putting pressure on yourself, but it’s a great sport to challenge yourself and see what you can do and have run with teammates.

“The boys ran great and improved all season,” Newton boys’ head coach Steve Weeks said. “Marshalltown has lots of long gradual hills that tend to slow times down, so to see my guys only :40 off of many of their personal records is quite amazing. They really bought into our practices and peaked at the right time.”

Weeks said Hunter was an athlete he coached at Newton’s Berg Middle School then became the NHS head cross country coach when Hunter was a freshman. He said it was bittersweet to watch Hunter end his cross country career on Thursday.

The Newton boys had two other seniors on the team — Nathan Jennings and Mitchell Faidley — but they both came out for the first time this season. They ran on the Cardinal junior varsity but the Cardinals will miss them, Weeks said.

“The freshman class had a lot to get excited for as we’ve been led by Treycen almost the entire year, and Jackson Mace has been making huge improvements,” Weeks said.

Hunter said he will be watching the Cardinal squad now because he expects the younger runners to surpass his times that he recorded over the past four years for Newton. He said all the freshmen this season had worked hard and made improvements.

“They have a ton of potential, and I think they all can do great things,” Hunter said. “I just wish them the best of luck. I think they can create a great Newton cross country team.”

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