Newton sweeps 2012 Cardinal Relays

Another successful Cardinal Relays came and went on Thursday at H.A. Lynn Stadium, with all five Jasper County schools in action. Counting boys and girls teams separately, 16 teams were at the meet, with eight on each side.

It was the second year that all schools competed in one class on the same night, as the Relays used to be a two-night event with a Class A meet and a Class B meet. Thursday also was the first time Newton got to use its new, fully-automatic timing system at a high school meet, which allowed the Relays to finish in less than four hours.

The Cardinals made the most of their only home meet of the season, sweeping the Relays for the first time since at least 1986. Newton, the only Class 4A school at the meet, was pushed well on both sides by 2A Collins-Maxwell-Baxter, which finished as runner-up in both standings. Fellow 2A school Prairie City-Monroe also had a strong meet, taking third for the boys and girls. Class 1A Lynnville-Sully competed well against bigger competition, taking fourth for the boys and fifth for the girls, while 2A Colfax-Mingo finished sixth and fifth.

SFlbBOYS

Newton

The Cardinal boys edged CMB by 14 points for the title, finishing with 124. They won four events and had 13 top-three finishes on the night.

Junior Derrick Hurt accounted for two of those wins, as he took the shot put and discus with throws of 53 feet, 7 inches and 150-3.

Forty-four of Newton’s points came from relays that took either first or second. Going into the final two events — the 4x100 and 4x400-meter relays — the Cards trailed CMB by two points. They erased that deficit and vaulted ahead of the Raiders by taking second and first in those events. The 4x100 team of seniors Zach Roskilly, Blake Tish and juniors Andrew Clements and Dakota Hills took second in 44.79 seconds and the 4x400 team of Tish, sophomore Jacob Walker, Clements and Hills won in a meet record 3:49.79 to seal the deal.

“I sat with the those two relays and laid it out. I said, ‘If you beat them (CMB) by at least a spot in the 4x100, then we’re either tied up or ahead going in to our best event (4x400),’” Newton coach Tyler Baethke said. “If you want to be a champion, you have to pull it out when the meet’s on the line and those guys did it.”

The Cards’ other win came in the 4x200, with the team of freshman Jarom Williams, Tish, Roskilly and Walker finishing in 1:33.90.

Besides the 4x100, Newton took second in five other events. Individually, Roskilly was runner-up in the 100 in 11.69 seconds, freshman Christian Laube was second in the 3,200 in 11:03.50 and Hills took second in the long jump at a personal-best 20 feet, 9 inches. Two relays also took second. The 4x800 team of senior Scott Nilles, Thomas, freshman Justin Simms and sophomore Sean Cook was second in 8:53.56 and the sprint medley team of freshman Jarom Williams, Walker, freshman Tyler Wood and Thomas was the runner-up in 3:51.23.

Hills and Thomas took third in the 400 and 1,600, respectively, while Newton also took third in the shuttle hurdle.

“I thought they did awesome,” Baethke said about his team. “People like Taylor Field, Zach Roskilly and Brandon Fisher stepped up. Overall, I couldn’t ask for a whole lot more. They all went out and performed.”

“It’s great that we finally won it,” Tish added. “Winning this meet is a lot of fun, especially for the guys because we haven’t won in a while.”

CMB

After winning the Cardinals Relays last year, the CMB boys had to settle for second this time around.The Raiders had 11 top-three finishes and won three events.

It was the Josh Zeiser show for CMB, as the senior accounted for all three wins, setting meet records in two of them. He won the 110 hurdles in 15.35 seconds, the 400 hurdles in a meet record 54.57 seconds and also set a record in the long jump with a winning leap of 21 feet, 7 inches.

Zeiser also narrowly took second in the 400 in a personal-best 50.37 seconds, while the Raiders also got runner-up finishes from senior Dylan DeJong in the 1,600 (5:02.0), junior Zach Huffaker in the high jump (5-8) and sophomore Zach Samson in the shot put (50-6).

Taking third for CMB was Colin Thomson in the 3,200 (11:13.03), freshman Bryce Kemp in the long jump (19-0.5) and freshman Patrick Girard in the shot put (43-5.5).

PCM

Mustang senior Jordan Van Roekel continued where he left off at the Drake Relays by setting a PCM school record in the 400 with a time of 50.22. He also was part of the 4x100 along with Hutch Burns, Sean O’Connor and Andrew McCarthy that set a Cardinal Relays record with a time of 44.35.

PCM’s last victory of the night came in the 4x800, in which the team of Jake Van Wyk, Hunter Reed, Ethan Kain and Jesse McAtee finished with a time of 8:47.21.

“We ran pretty well in areas we knew we could,” PCM boys coach Ben Anderson said. “I enjoyed seeing kids step into new events and do their best. We had a lot of kids set personal bests tonight. Times coming down as the season moves on is what you want as a coach and our kids are certainly seeing it as well.”

A multitude of Mustangs finished second throughout the night, starting in the field events with Sam Munson and his 134 foot, 8 inch toss in the discus. Going back to the relays, the 4x200 team of Bo Clymer, McCarthy, O’Connor and Van Roekel ran a season-best time of 3:30.4. The 4x200 team of Hutch Burns, Kody Wilkie, Clymer and O’Connor took second in 1:32.9 and the shuttle hurdle team of Alex Amadeo, Jesse McAtee, Ethan Kain and Hunter Reed with a time of 1:03.

Rounding out the second-place finishes for PCM were Reed in the 110 hurdles (16.1) and O’Connor in the 200 (23.1). Reed also finished third in the 400 hurdles behind Van Roekel in second.

Colfax-Mingo

The Tigerhawks earned most of their points from the relay events on the night and took their lone first-place finish in the sprint medley relay with the team of Harrison Koenig, Justin Fisher, Connor Hainer and Jaden Van Dyke. In the 4x400, C-M took fourth with a time of 3:31 from Chad McLain, Van Dyke, Fisher and Hainer.

In the field events, Colton McKinney and McLain finished 3-4 in the shot put with throws of 41 feet, 2 inches and 41-1.75, respectively. Gary Alexander took third in the discus with a distance of 131-07.

Individually, the Tigerhawks’ other top-five finisher was Shadoe Rusk, who took fifth in the 3,200 with a time of 11:27.87.

Lynnville-Sully

The Lynnville-Sully boys had the best showing of the three 4 Class 1A schools, topped 2A Colfax-Mingo and its 84 points were within 26 of 2A’s CMB and PCM. The Hawks had eight top-three finishes and 13 in the top five. They won three events.

Individually, sophomore Maliek Meyer won the 100 in 11.34 seconds and sophomore Bailee Samson took the 200 in 23.33 seconds. The shuttle hurdle team of junior Nathan Russell, sophomore Darin Hofer, junior Brady Van Wyk and sophomore Caden Doll also won in a meet-record 1:00.95. Lynnville-Sully’s lone runner-up was senior Chase Jansen in the 800 (2:08.32).

Taking third individually was senior Blake Dunsbergen in the 800 (2:08.86), Doll in the 110 hurdles (16.36) and junior Brady Van Wyk in the high jump (5-8), while the 4x100 team also took third.

GIRLS

Newton

The Newton girls trailed CMB in the standings for much of the meet before pushing past the Raiders in the final 1/3. The Cardinals took the title with 137 points, 12 ahead of CMB. Newton won six events and had 14 top-three finishers.

Individually, junior Alexis DesPlanque won the 800 in 2:25.90, senior Alora Simmons won the high jump at 5 feet even and senior Courtney Meyer won the shot put with a toss of 36 feet, 10.75 inches. Shot put was a big scoring event for the Cards, as sophomores Madison Bagnall and Michaela Bleeker also took second and third at 35-1 and 34-7. Bagnall’s mark was a personal best by 2 feet, 4.5 inches. Meyer and freshman Sarah Kalkhoff also took second and third in the discus with throws of 110-5 and 107-3.

“The throwers are a big part of our team,” Newton coach Rachel Tomas said. “Our team’s success would not happen without them because they score multiple points for us every single meet. We always rely on them. It’s a huge asset to us.”

The Cardinals won three relays. The 4x400 team of sophomore Amber Karsten, freshman Taylor Fisher, senior Ellen Colville and junior Alexis DesPlanque won in 4:09.67, shattering a 30-year old meet record by nearly six seconds. The 4x800 team of DesPlanque, Colville, Karsten and sophomore Carly Colville won in 10:08.94, while the shuttle hurdle squad of freshman Anna Barr, senior Kyla Cazett, and juniors Amanda Richtsmeier and Victoria Walton took first in 1:11.89. Walton also was second in the 100 hurdles in 17.12 seconds and Barr was second in the 400 hurdles in 1:09.26. Karsten took third in the 400, and the 4x100 team also took third.

“I think they did a fantastic job,” Tomas said. “We had a lot of season-best times, so coming into next week with the district meets, we’re making the improvements that we need to and are coming on strong.”

CMB

The CMB girls took second on the strength of 12 top-three finishes and two wins. Those wins came from in the 4x200, where the team of Sophomore Alex Broderick, junior Emmeline Huffaker and freshmen Abbie Haupert and MacKenzie Schmitz had a time of 1:52.49, and from junior Sarah Galbraith, who won the long jump at 16-1.

Sophomore Alex Broderick took second in the high jump at 4-10, while four Raider relays were runners-up. They were the 4x800 team of sophomores Anne Deutsch, Hayley Leonard, Huffaker and sophomore Kayla Hennick (10:40.83); the sprint medley team of sophomore Hennick, freshman Taylor Ross, Huffaker and Galbraith (1:56.45); the distance medley team of Hennick, Ross, Deutsch and sophomore Ashley Girard (4:35.55) and the shuttle hurdle team of freshmen Hannah Husske, Jenna O’Hara, Ross and sophomore Jenna Ziesman (1:15.65).

CMB also took third in five events, including 4x400, Galbraith in the 100, Schmitz in the 200, Leonard in the 1,500 and Ziesman in the 100 hurdles.

PCM

PCM junior Lexi Kain is showing no signs of slowing down from her recent hot streak.

Kain won the 100 and 200 with times of 13.27 and 26.54 seconds, respectively, and was also part of the first-place 4x100 relay team alongside Mackenzie Clarke, Courtney Van Houweling and Emma Williams that finished with a time of 52.52. Kain also finished second in the 400 with a time of 1:00.15.

Individually, the Mustangs had two other first-place finishers, starting with sophomore Abbi Gilson and her 111 foot, 6 inch toss in the discus. Junior Kelsey Townsend also took first in the 100 hurdles with a time of 16.55.

PCM’s Rachel Peter made her mark in the distance events Thursday night. The freshman took second in both the 1,600 and the 3,200 by registering times of 5:26.61 and 11:45.94, respectively.

All of the Mustangs’ other top-three finishes were by individuals, as Clarke took second in the to Kain in the 100 with a time of 13.48 and Townsend took third in the 400 hurdles with a time of 1:11.51.

Lynnville-Sully

The Lynnville-Sully girls had four top-three finishes and seven in the top five. Individually, sophomore Alexa Vander Leest picked up the Hawks’ lone win in the 3,000 in 11:28.61, while freshman Madison Rasmusson took third in the 800 in 2:32.99. Also taking third was the 4x800 team of seniors Cassie Schwartz, Kelsi Vanden Hoek, Kenzi Ritter and sophomore Tara Vos in 10:45.31, as well as the distance medley team of freshman Shelby Davis, Ritter, Rasmusson and freshman Cori Rice in 4:35.77.

Colfax-Mingo

Battling with PCM’s Lexi Kain in multiple events was Colfax-Mingo senior Meghan Parman. Parman bested Kain in the in the 400 with a time of 59.89, but took second to her in the 200 with her time of 27.14.

The Tigerhawks profited from their relay events Thursday night, led by the sprint medley team of Hailey Summy, Anna Baldwin, Katie Stuva and Meghan Parman that took first with a time of 1:55.86. They also grabbed a third-place finish in the 4x200 when the team of Summy, Baldwin, Stuva and Jessica Koto edged out North Mahaska with a time of 1:55.44.

Individually, C-M got a third-place finish from Summy in the long jump with a distance of 15 feet, 1 inch.

Team scores

Boys

1, Newton 124; 2, CMB 110; 3, PCM 108; 4, Lynnville-Sully 84; 5, North Mahaska 60; 6, Colfax-Mingo 34; 7, Pleasantville 26; 8, Southeast Warren 9.

Girls

1, Newton 137; 2, CMB 125; 3, PCM 109; 4, North Mahaska 98; 5, Colfax-Mingo 56; 6, Lynnville-Sully 41; 7, Southeastern Warren 19; 8, Pleasantville 3.