Newton girls double up competition at Cardinal Relays

The only other time Brooklyn Shannon ran in the 400-meter dash this season, the Cardinal sophomore decided against using blocks.

She changed that decision during the Cardinal Relays on Thursday and the end result cut a plethora of seconds off her career-best time.

Shannon went below 60 seconds for the first time in her career and the victory helped the Newton girls’ track and field team to a victory in front of its home fans.

“It felt really good. I felt really relaxed and I felt like I had more in me,” Shannon said. “I maybe could have pushed it more at the end.”

Shannon’s win in the 400 was just one of 11 victories on the night. The Cardinals registered 25 top-three finishes overall and doubled up the rest of their competition at H.A. Lynn Stadium.

Newton won the meet with 227 points. Lynnville-Sully was the runner-up with 111 points and Colfax-Mingo completed the area sweep with 100 points.

The rest of the eight-team field included North Mahaska (94), Pleasantville (85), the Newton JV (45), Southeast Warren (23) and the Lynnville-Sully JV (7).

“The Hawks did some nice things throughout the night, and we are proud of the continued efforts and progress that each individual is making and the progress of the team overall,” Lynnville-Sully head girls’ track and field coach Kevin Johnson said.

The biggest reason for the Cardinals’ big night was due to the fact they scored double points in 10 events. They also finished 1-2 in the 400 and 1,500, took 1-3 in the 100, 100 hurdles and the high jump and grabbed wins in four relays.

Shannon’s win in the 400 was clocked in a career-best 59.99 seconds. The only other time she went under 60 seconds in a 400 was during a relay split. The 59.99 ranks 11th in Class 3A.

Running the open 400 at the conference meet on Monday helped Shannon have a better understanding of the race the second time around.

“I totally changed my mindset from the first one to this one. I was really comfortable not using blocks, but I got a better start today,” Shannon said. “That got my mind in the right place. I had more confidence with the blocks.”

Alex Riney gave the Cardinals a 1-2 finish in the 400 as she was the runner-up in a career-best 1 minute, 6.55 seconds.

The other individual wins came from Tori White, Briana Shannon, Abby Bruce, Addy Terpstra, Hadley Kruse and Kate Muckler. Newton also won the 4x100, 4x400, 4x800 and shuttle hurdle relay.

Lynnville-Sully’s night included two wins and several season-best times. Colfax-Mingo went 1-3 in the 400 hurdles and registered five third-place finishes.

Terpstra made her return to the lineup and won the 100 hurdles in a season-best time of 15.12 seconds, which ranks sixth in 3A. Four Cardinals scored points for Newton’s two teams and a fifth hurdler posted a top-six time in the event.

JaQuay Priest (16.63), Macy Lampe (16.97) and Mack Sims (17.18) were third, fourth and fifth, respectively. White (17.23) had the sixth-best time in the event, but only two athletes from each team can score points.

The Cardinals also finished first and third in the shuttle hurdle relay. The varsity team of Lampe, Priest, White and Terpstra won the race in a season-best time of 1:06.57 and the JV squad of Sims, Chloe Rorabaugh, Alyssa Beerends and Annie Main finished third in 1:11.54.

The 1:06.57 from the varsity foursome is currently the second-best time in 3A.

Bruce won the 100 in a career-best time of 13.54 seconds and Bella Winther was third in a career-best 14.06.

Kruse (career-best 2:34.2) won the 800, Muckler (career-best 5:29.8) and Briana Shannon (5:36.55) were 1-2 in the 1,500 and Briana Shannon (career-best 12:26.22) won the 3,000. Cameron Sharp (6:01.29) was fourth in the 1,500 as part of the Newton JV.

White’s win came in the high jump and the winning mark was a career-best 5 feet, 1 inch. Riney tied for third with a leap of 4-6. The 5-1 for White is tied for 12th in 3A.

Jayden Lukefahr was the runner-up in both the shot put and discus and Main finished second in the long jump.

Lukefahr won the shot put with a toss of 32-6 and Tierney Adams placed fourth with a throw of 31-6 1/2. Lukefahr’s runner-up throw in the discus went 94-6 1/2 and Paige Benson took fourth with a season-best toss of 82-7 1/2.

Main’s best jump of the day was 15-4 1/2 and Lauren Clarke finished fifth in a career-best leap of 14-5.

Taylor Schilling (career-best 29.14) and Riney (career-best 29.17) were 3-4 in the 200 and Lampe had the fifth-best time in the event with a time of 29.72.

Jazlynn Siddall also registered the sixth-best time in the 100, but her 14.71 couldn’t score team points.

Terpstra made her prep debut in the 400 hurdles. She finished second in 1:10.53, which ranks 19th in 3A. Beerends (1:17.7) gave the Cardinals double points in fourth.

Newton won the 4x100 relay in a season-best time of 51.29. That foursome included Lola Rivera, Priest, Bruce and Terpstra.

The winning 4x400 and 4x800 relay teams included Harper Barton and Winther.

They were joined by Brooklyn Shannon and Clarke in the 4x400 and that team won the race in a season-best 4:13.24.

The winning 4x800 relay team of Barton, Winther, Riney and Peyton Ray won the race in 10:34.1.

Newton finished second in the sprint medley, distance medley and 4x200 relays.

The 4x200 relay posted a season-best time of 1:51.34 with Clarke, Rivera, Bruce and Winther.

Rivera, Rorabaugh, Clarke and Muckler were second in the sprint medley relay in 1:58.11 and the distance medley relay team of Schilling, Main, Barton and Kruse finished second in 4:38.79.

The Hawks won the distance medley relay and Abby Squires won the discus. L-S also was second five times and third four times.

Squires’ winning toss in the discus was marked in 97-4. The season-best time of 4:37.78 from Carsyn McFarland, Morgan Jones, Tatum Huyser and Kate Harthoorn won the distance medley relay.

The Hawks were second in the 4x100, 4x200, 4x400 and 4x800 relays and they posted season-best times in all four.

The 4x100 relay team of McFarland, Morgan Hay, Jones and Huyser set a new school record with a time of 51.72 seconds. That time also ranks seventh in 1A.

McFarland, Greenlee Smock, Jones and Huyser finished second in the 4x200 in a season-best 1:51.42.

The 4x400 relay team of Olivia Norrish, Elise Alberts, Smock and Laura Fikse took second in a season-best time of 4:36.28.

Norrish, Kinsley Tice, Alberts and Harthoorn ran a season-best time of 10:45.28 to place second in the 4x800 relay.

The other second-place finish came from Smock in the 200. She ran a career-best time of 28.59 seconds and Natalie Roberts placed fifth in a career-best 30.24.

Alaina Roberts was third in the 400, Norrish took third in the 800, Squires was third in the shot put and Huyser secured a third-place finish in the high jump.

Alaina Roberts posted a career-best time of 1:12.6 in the 400, Norrish registered a career-best time of 2:39.36 in the 800, Squires had a career-best mark of 32-1 in the shot put and Huyser tied for third in the high jump with a leap of 4-6.

Hay’s 14.61 placed her fourth in the 100 and Katie Reimer (1:17.67) was fifth in the 400 and Alberts (2:45.18) and Tice (career-best 2:45.74) finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 800.

The Tigerhawks were once again headlined by their hurdlers.

McKenna Pleima edged Terpstra at the line to win the 400 hurdles. She won the race in a career-best 1:10.28 and Carley Underwood finished third in 1:11.95.

Underwood also was second in the 100 hurdles in 16.43 and Pleima got sixth-place points with a time of 17.24.

The shuttle hurdle relay team of Pleima, Trinity Smith, Caylee Cunningham and Underwood took second in 1:11.14.

The final runner-up finish came from Olivia Rausch in the 100. She posted a career-best time of 13.73 seconds.

Cunningham (4-6) tied for third in the high jump, Shae Wilkins (career-best 12:59.03) and Addie Schroeder (13:52.66) were 3-4 in the 3,000, Schroeder (6:11.64) ran to third in the 1,500 and Holland Robinette placed sixth in the shot put with a toss of 29-10.

The Tigerhawks’ sprint medley relay team of Rausch, Karmylia Snyder, Jenah Jones and Rachael Uecker finished third in 2:09.71 and the team of Snyder, Smith, Uecker and Rausch took third in the 4x200 relay in 2:00.51.