Newton girls break long-standing record at LHC meet

GRIMES — The Newton girls track and field team was held out of the win column during the Little Hawkeye Conference meet on Thursday.

But the Cardinals broke a 20-year-old record in the 4x200-meter relay and Lauren Clarke moved into the top 10 in a pair of sprinting events at Dallas Center-Grimes High School.

“This is a tough conference and scouting it out, fifth place was expected, but it was definitely nice to be within 15 points of fourth and Pella Christian, which will likely see some Class 2A state champions,” Newton head girls track and field coach Rachelle Tipton said. “I feel like a broken record saying this team took advantage of the weather and the competition but that’s what they do. They step up. Even with a few things not going as hoped, the mood is positive as we head into next week.”

Newton scored 67.5 points in fifth. The Cardinals were better than Norwalk (54) and Oskaloosa (37) and trailed Pella Christian (76) by 8.5 points.

Indianola registered six wins and won the conference championship with 167 points. Pella (113) took second despite not winning a single event and Dallas Center-Grimes (93.5) finished third. Pella Christian won seven events in fourth.

The Eagles registered six meet records, while DCG and Indianola set five and four new records, respectively.

The Cardinals finished second in two events. They grabbed the silver medal in the 4x200 relay after posting a season-best and school-record time of 1 minute, 45.05 seconds with Camryn Klein, Lola Rivera, Abby Bruce and Clarke. That time currently ranks ninth in Class 3A.

The previous school record of 1:45.98 was set back in 2004 by Tabitha McCormick, Chantelle MacVey, Stephanie Goos and Sonya Anderson.

“Once the 4x200 team hit 1:47 in mid-April, I told them the school record was absolutely doable,” Tipton said. “The group is excited but also knows hand offs can be better and they can go faster.

“While this is not likely to be the standing time, I’m happy to see (Rivera) and (Bruce) leave with a school record.”

Klein also opened the shuttle hurdle relay and helped the Cardinals place third in 1:08.94. The rest of the group included Macy Lampe, Mack Sims and Tori White.

“Despite a fall in the shuttle, the hurdlers also had an exciting night that should give them a confidence boost,” Tipton said.

Clarke finished second in the 100 in a career-best time of 12.43 seconds, and she took third in the 200 in a career-best 25.5. Those times rank 12th and ninth, respectively, in 3A.

White (15.78) and Sims (career-best 16.46) finished 3-5 in the 100 hurdles, White (4-10) placed fifth in the high jump and Bella Winther (2:32.21) took sixth in the 800.

Audrey Muckler (11:31.21) came across the line sixth in the 3,000, Bruce was sixth in the long jump with a leap of 15 feet, 7 1/4 inches and Addie Hammerly (31-7) placed sixth in the shot put.

Notes: Indianola finished 1-2 in the shot put, 100 hurdles and 400 hurdles and also won the shuttle hurdle relay. ... DCG was 1-2 in the 800 and Pella Christian placed 1-2 in the 200.