Newton girls end season at 3A state qualifier

PELLA — Competing against five ranked teams and eight ranked individual runners, the Newton girls cross country team faced an uphill battle at the Class 3A state qualifying meet at Pella Sports Park on Wednesday.

The Cardinals did not qualify anyone for the state meet but were able to meet the goal head coach Rachelle Tipton set for them.

“The goal was to be inside the top 10 and that’s where we ended up,” Tipton said. “I was happy with the day. Everyone ran where they had been at the end of the season or faster. We beat Perry and pushed against Fairfield. Those were the goals.”

Newton finished ninth in the 13-team field with 230 points. The top three teams and top 15 individuals advanced to next week’s state cross country meet in Fort Dodge.

Class 3A No. 1 Pella dominated the day with 29 points. The Lady Dutch won the regional title after placing four in the top 10 and seven in the top 15.

Class 3A No. 11 Harlan was the runner-up with 98 points and sixth-ranked Clear Creek-Amana was the third team qualifier with 110. Class 3A No. 17 Washington (112) was two points back in fourth and 18th-ranked Fort Madison (122) finished fifth.

The rest of the field featured Oskaloosa (134), Keokuk (187), Fairfield (209), Newton (230), Perry (271), Saydel (339), Mount Pleasant (343) and Knoxville (368).

“Perry is a team we should have been able to beat, but they had a top-20 girl so it was a matter of how far ahead of their other girls our girls could get to make up that difference,” Tipton said.

Bella Winther led the Cardinals in 32nd with a time of 22 minutes, 20.67 seconds.

Lauren Clarke posted a career-best time of 23:06.82 in 43rd, Cameron Sharp was 50th in 23:33.54, Meghan Trout finished 52nd in 23:48.75 and Sarah Malow ran a career-best 23:50.74 in 53rd.

Tipton said Sharp and Trout were very close to their personal best times, too. Sharp also is the lone senior on the varsity roster.

“Cameron finishes her two-year career in outstanding fashion,” Tipton said. “Although she was just short of a PR today, she raced more than two minutes faster than this meet last year. I’m excited for that confidence she gained, proud of the work she put in and we will miss her leadership next year.”

Last year’s Newton team also finished ninth and scored 230 points, but that squad had a top-15 finisher in Hadley Kruse.

Kruse was not available to compete for most of this season, but the exact same finish as last year showed improvement in the Cardinals.

“I’m proud of the whole team and their season,” Tipton said. “Scoring the same number of points as last season without a top-15 finisher not only shows the improvement of the team but the importance of all the scorers and what pack running can do. The team should be excited for next season.”

Class 3A No. 5 Marissa Ferebee of Pella won the girls’ 5K race in 18:39.71. Her teammate, 10th-ranked Ruth Dunham, was the runner-up in 19:08.65.

The girls’ field featured four runners ranked in the top 10, including both No. 1 and No. 2.

Notes: There were six individual state qualifiers not on a qualifying team — two each from Oskaloosa and Fort Madison and one each from Washington and Fairfield.