NHS track athletes on state-qualifying bubble

WAUKEE — On the bubble and waiting are several Newton High track athletes following Thursday’s Class 4A state qualifying track meet at Waukee. Newton’s girls nor boys had any automatic state track meet qualifiers, but had six — three events each for the Cardinal girls and boys —third-place finishers.

In Class 4A the top two finishers in each event automatically qualify for the Iowa state track meet. The Cardinals are playing the waiting game to see if their performances were in fast enough or far enough to qualify for the 12 at-large slots for each event.

The at-large berths will be announced by the Iowa High School Athletic Association and Iowa High School Girls Athletic Union on Friday afternoon.

Newton’s boys had three third-place finishers at the qualifying meet. Senior Jace Lukefahr launched a 149 foot, 3 inch throw to place third in the discus. Fellow senior Landon Hansen landed in third place in the shot put with a toss of 51-11.

Seniors Matthew Yeager and Matthew Karsten competed in a tough 100-meter heat. Yeager went into the meet with the fastest time, 10.91 seconds. He finished third in 11.06 and Karsten was sixth in 11.42.

Karsten and Yeager combined with senior Josh Miravalles and sophomore Jeremiah Johnson for a new school record time of 1 minute, 36.06 seconds in the 800-meter sprint relay race. The Cardinal foursome was fourth in Thursday’s meet.

Also fourth was the Cardinal boys’ 4x400 relay team of Johnson, senior Jack Callaghan, sophomore Camden Winther and Yeager in 3:31.44.

Senior Rachel Berkland ran the girls’ 400 hurdles in 1:08.79, finishing third. In the shot put, senior Haley Revell had a third-place throw of 37-4 with senior Ali Bestell taking eighth at 32-11 1/2.

Bestell next went into the discus ring and claimed third with a distance of 114-9. Senior Audrey Lucas finished fifth at 104-9.

Waukee captured both the girls’ and the boy’s team championships on its home track with 232 points and 196 points, respectively. Ankeny Centennial teams were second in both divisions with 131 points for the girls and 161.5 for the boys.

Newton’s girls were seventh with 46.5 points in the eight-team meet. Newton’s boys scored 37 points for eighth place.

The Cardinal boys’ distance medley relay team of Johnson, Karsten, Winther and Callaghan was sixth in 3:49.18. Also taking sixth was the 4x100 team of Johnson, Miravalles, Yeager and Karsten in 44.50 seconds.

Sophomore Luke Zaabel ran eighth in the 800 in 2:10.34. Junior Adam Hunter finished 10th in the 1,600 in 5:00.27. Junior Ben Peterson placed ninth in the shot put at 44-11 1/4, and sophomore Clay Meyer was 12th in the discus at 103-11.

The Cardinal girls’ shuttle hurdle relay foursome of junior Abbie Barr, freshman Kate Callaghan and seniors Liz McVey and Morgann Edie took fifth in 1:09.37. Edie placed ninth in the 100 hurdles in 16.15 and Kate Callaghan was 14th in 17.43.

Junior Rachel Rhoads ran sixth in the 800 in 2:29.56 and sophomore Molly Coy was 12th in 2:52.53. Barr finished in a tie for seventh in the high jump, clearing the bar at 4-8.

Barr combined with Berkland and juniors Clare Muckler and Lakin Jenkins for sixth in the 4x400 relay race in 4:27.12. In the 4x800 race, Newton’s team of Muckler, Jenkins, freshman Ashay Malow and junior Gerima Blair in 11:00.6.

The girls’ 800 sprint medley relay team of Kate Callaghan, freshman Meg Callaghan and seniors Jordan Banfield and Tessa Keeton turned in a sixth-place time of 1:58.73. McVey, Barr and Berkland joined with freshman Kynnedei Terpstra for sixth in the 1,600 distance medley relay race in 4:28.05.

Finishing eighth was the girls’ 4x200 relay team of junior Alona Kosenko, sophomore Priscila Amador, senior Serenity Stier and freshman Sydni Followill in 2:06.18. The 4x100 team of McVey, Eide, Banfield and Terpstra was eighth in 54.20 seconds.

In the 3,000 meters, freshman Willow Oswalt was eighth in 13:46.06 and senior Original Tesfay was ninth in 14:02.42. Keeton was 10th in the 1,500 in 5:44.28 and Blair took 14th in 6:00.75.

Banfield ran 10th in the 200 in 28.56 seconds and Meg Callaghan was 11th in 29.19. Sophomore Alivia Hoffman was 15th in the 100 in 15.57 seconds and senior Bethany Risius in 15.77.

Malow took 13th in the 400 in 1:11.49 and sophomore Halli Versteegh was 15th in 1:15.79. Sophomore Liv Whitten had a leap of 13-4 for 13th in the long jump and Amador was 14th at 13-3.

The Iowa coed state track and field meet is next Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.

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