Cardinal boys’ sprint medley relay is LHC champion

INDIANOLA — It was tight right to the end, and on the line was a Little Hawkeye Conference relay race championship.

Newton High’s boys prevailed against Indianola in a tightly contested 800-meter sprint medley relay on the Indians’ home track on Tuesday. It came down to a fraction of a second with the Cardinals running the race in 1 minute, 37.07 seconds and the Indians crossing the line in 1:37.41.

Sophomore Jeremiah Johnson led the race off for the Cardinals, handing the baton to senior Josh Miravalles. Running the final two legs of the race were seniors Jack Callaghan and Matthew Yeager, who anchored the Cardinals to a LHC championship in the event.

It was the lone conference champion for the Newton High track teams. The Cardinal girls had two runner-up finishes in their division in the shuttle hurdle relay race and discus.

Pella won the girls’ LHC team title with 170 points with Dallas Center-Grimes in a distant second with 111.5 points, just edging out Indianola, 111 points. Grinnell and Norwalk tied for fourth with 89 points apiece and Pella Christian was sixth at 64.

Newton’s girls scored 58 points for finish seventh. Oskaloosa finished eighth with 42.5 points.

Newton’s boys shared seventh place with Pella Christian in their division with 41 points apiece. DCG’s boys piled up 177 points for the 2018 LHC boys’ team title.

Indianola finished second with 123 points and Pella was third at 121. Norwalk scored 113 points for fourth followed by Grinnell with 60 points and Oskaloosa with 48 points.

“I’m just really proud of the way the guys have fought through a difficult season,” Newton boys’ head coach Tanner Clute said of the sprint medley relay team. We ask Jack to do a lot for us. He does it without hesitation. He’s just that kind of young man.”

The Cardinal boys have been without senior sprinter Matthew Karsten for a few weeks because of an injury. Karsten was a member of the sprint medley early in the season.

For the Cardinal girls, senior Ali Bestell claimed second in the discus with a throw of 108 feet, 7 inches. Fellow senior Audrey Lucas had a throw of 103-1 for seventh.

Senior Morgann Edie anchored the Cardinal girls’ shuttle hurdle relay to a silver medal. Junior Abbie Barr, senior Liz McVey and freshman Kate Callaghan ran the other three legs of the race. Pella won in 1:08.8 with Newton following at 1:09.78.

In the girls’ shot put, senior Haley Revell finished third with a toss of 36-6 and Bestell was fifth at 34-9 1/2. Barr place fifth in the high jump, going 4-8.

“The girls did well against our talented conference,” Newton girls’ co-head coach Rachel Tomas said. “We have several events that are consistently placing for us. We had to adjust our line-up for some injuries and as we prepare for our end of season.”

Newton’s boys scored points in two throwing events. Senior Jace Lukefahr earned the bronze medal for third in the discus at139-11. Landon Hansen, a senior, placed fourth in the shot put with a toss of 48-11.

Staying with the Cardinal boys, Johnson ran third in the 100 meters in 11.32 seconds and fourth in the 200 at 22.89. Callaghan was sixth in the 800 in 2:06.28.

The boys’ 4x100 relay team of Johnson, Miravalles, sophomore Camden Winther and Callaghan was sixth in 46.75 seconds. Winther combined with freshman Devon Crandall, sophomore Logan Cummins and senior Clayton Baltisberger for a sixth-place time of 1:42.22 in the 4x200 relay.

On the track for the Cardinal girls, senior Rachel Berkland ran fourth in the 400 meters in 1:03.86 and fifth in the 400 hurdles in 1:10.93. Eide placed fifth in the 100 hurdles in 16.17 seconds.

McVey and senior Jordan Banfield combined with freshman Meg Callaghan and sophomore Priscila Amador for sixth place in the girls’ 4x200 in 1:58.21. The 4x100 relay team of McVey, Eide, Banfield and Kate Callaghan was seventh in 54.56 seconds.

Newton girls’ 4x800 foursome of juniors Clare Muckler, Lakin Jenkins and Gerima Blair and senior Tessa Keeton took sixth in 11:26.86. Banfield, freshman Kynnedei Terpstra, Barr and Muckler ran a 5:02.78 to place eighth in the 1,600 distance medley relay.

The sprint medley relay team of Banfield, Meg Callaghan, Terpstra and Berkland was seventh in 1:58.94. Newton’s 4x400 team of Barr, Muckler, Keeton and junior Alona Kosenko placed seventh in 4:46.09.

There were a few junior varsity races at the conference meet. Here are the Newton junior varsity results:

Boys: 110 hurdles-3. Jaden Dydell, 20.96; 100-7. Dalton Altemeier, 13.52; 800-5. Luke Zaabel, 2:21.12, 11. Jared Whalen, 2:29.98; 4x100-2. Newton (Christian Lampman, Baltisberger, Crandall, Cummins), 48.29; 4x200-5. Newton (Lampman, Chayton Lambertus-Hamm, Owen Sanger, Gavin Urias), 1:46.04; sprint medley relay-6. Newton (Cummins, Altemeier, Lambertus-Hamm, Urias), 1:52.28.

Girls: 100-7. Jorian Ratcliff, 16.48; 800-8. Halli Versteegh, 2:57.53, 11. Lizy Raper, 3;06.64; 100 hurdles-6. Liv Whitten, 19.15; 4x100-7. Newton (Serenity Stier, Sydni Followill, Emily Goshorn, Bethany Risius), 1:01.67; 4x200-6. Newton (Stier, Abbey Kirby, Followill, Alivia Hoffman), 2:15.03; sprint medley-7. Newton (Hoffman, Katie McConnell, Risius, Madelyn Pickett), 2:33.61.

Newton hosts the annual Cardinal Relays on Thursday at H.A. Lynn Stadium. Field events get underway at 4 p.m. with running events beginning at 4:30 p.m.

“We will finally be full strength for the Cardinal Relays and get Matthew Yeager (who plays soccer also) for an entire meet, for I believe only the second time this season,” Clute said. “It will be fun to really compete on Thursday.”

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