Newton girls finish fourth against tough field at Norwalk

NORWALK — Three wins and six top-three finishes powered the Newton girls track and field team to a fourth-place team finish at the Norwalk Coed Invitational on Monday.

The Cardinals faced off against some familiar Class 3A and 4A schools and were only defeated by a trio of 4A programs.

Newton scored 100 points in fourth and trailed 4A Norwalk by .5 points. Class 4A Ames won the team title with 146 and 4A Dallas Center-Grimes was second with 131.

The rest of the 10-team field featured 3A programs in Grinnell (66), Winterset (57.5), North Polk (55), Carlisle (54), Nevada (22) and South Tama County (5).

“Fourth place is an excellent finish for this meet and another reminder that it takes everyone to get it done,” Newton head girls track and field coach Rachelle Tipton said.

While the Cardinals could only muster six top-three finishes, they piled up a plethora of fifths and sixths to climb the standings.

Lauren Clarke and Tori White had the biggest days for Newton.

Clarke won the 400-meter dash in 1 minute, 1.6 seconds and took second in the 100 in a career-best 13.0 seconds.

White was the high jump winner with a leap of 5 feet, 0 inches, and she also was the runner-up in the 100 hurdles with a career-best time of 16.28 seconds.

The Cardinals scored double points in the 400, 100 hurdles, 400 hurdles and the high jump.

“This meet had some tough competition and a bit of a headwind on the homestretch, but the athletes responded well,” Tipton said.

Bella Winther finished fourth in the 400 in 1:04.52 and fifth in the high jump with a career-best leap of 4-8 and Mack Sims placed fifth in the 100 hurdles in 17.29.

White and Gracie Clayton went 4-5 in the 400 hurdles. White posted a career-best time of 1:16.05 in fourth and Clayton was fifth in 1:17.03.

The final top-five individual finishes came from Addie Hammerly and Abby Bruce. Hammerly (career-best 98-4) was fourth in the discus and Bruce (career-best 28.42) finished fifth in the 200.

Newton’s final win came in the sprint medley relay. The team of Chloe Rorabaugh, Bruce, Lola Rivera and Clarke posted a season-best time of 1:53.27.

The shuttle hurdle relay team of Sims, Macy Lampe, White and Rorabaugh finished second in a season-best 1:08.62. Ames won the race in 1:07.93 and the Drake Relays Blue Standard time is 1:07.

“A number of relays saw time drops, which was great to see,” Tipton said. “Athletes up and down the lineup had personal-best performances.”

The Cardinals were fourth in the 4x200 and fifth in both the 4x100 and 4x400 relays.

BrookLynn Britton, Clayton, Alivia Conley and Rivera posted a season-best time of 1:55.34 in the 4x200 relay.

The 4x100 relay team featured Britton, Clarke, Clayton and Rivera and they finished in a season-best 53.18.

Alex Riney, Winther, Hailey Dickerson and Sims were fifth in the 4x400 relay in 4:32.54.