Three wins push Newton girls to third at Tulip Time Coed

PELLA — Alyssa Shannon won the 1,500-meter run, Marissa Cunningham grabbed a gold medal in the discus and Newton’s shuttle hurdle relay team won again during the Tulip Time Coed on Thursday.

The Newton girls track and field team registered nine top-three finishes and finished third in the team race.

Pella scored 188.5 points to win its home meet. Mount Pleasant scored 150 points in second and Newton scored 121 in third. The rest of the seven-team field included Oskaloosa (111), Ottumwa (62.5), Pella Christian (45) and the Pella JV (33).

Shannon won the 1,500 in 5 minutes, 14.08 seconds. The Cardinals doubled up in the event as Peyton Ray debuted with a fifth-place finish in 5:56.12.

Cunningham’s winning throw in the discus was marked at 105 feet, 0 inches. The Cardinals scored top-five finishes in two other field events as Alex Riney (career-best 4-10) was third in the high jump and Tierney Adams (career-best 33-7) took fifth in the shot put.

The shuttle hurdle relay team won the race in 1:10.43 with Macy Lampe, Emma Rogers, Chloe Rorabaugh and JaQuay Priest.

Rorabaugh also finished fourth in the 100 hurdles in a career-best 17.18 seconds.

The Cardinals were second in the 4x200 and distance medley relays and placed third in the 4x800.

In the 4x200, Lolo Rivera, Brooklyn Shannon, Taylor Schilling and Priest were second in season-best 1:53.24.

In the 4x800, Kate Muckler, Hadley Kruse, Morgan Stalzer and Ray were third in 11:16.48.

The distance medley relay was second with Audrey Rausch, Abby Bruce, Bella Winther and Alyssa Shannon. They finished in a season-best 2:36.82.

Newton had six other top six individual finishes. Leading that group was Brooklyn Shannon and Kruse. Brooklyn Shannon was third in the 100 in 13.95.

Kruse and Muckler went 3-4 in the 800 with career-best times of 2:40.77 and 2:43.09, respectively.

Grace Benson made her season debut and placed fourth in the 3,000 in 13:03.83, Briana Shannon took fifth in the 200 in 29.17 and Riney raced to sixth in the 400 in a career-best 1:07.11.