PERRY — Junior Hailey Coy, who has had some tough luck at the last two cross country meets for Newton, turned in a tough race Thursday to lead the Cardinals to fifth place in the team standings at the Perry Leon Fox Invitational.
Coy posted a personal-best time of 16 minutes, 27.76 seconds in the 4K race, claiming the eighth-place medal. At the Newton home meet Sept. 24, Coy fell twice during the race but finished, and Tuesday at Knoxville, she pulled out during the race because of a knee problem.
“Hailey came out ready to race,” said Rachelle Tipton, Newton girls’ head coach. “She lowered her best time by six seconds. The starts of her last two meets showed she was ready to bust out.”
Autumn Hunt, another junior, finished 26th in 17:40.87, followed by freshman Ellie Horn in 31st in 17:56.03. Freshman Jordyn Soule claimed 34th in 18:00.87. Juniors Anna Barr, 18:02.26, and Amber Knight, 18:02.60, finished 36th and 37th, respectively. Michaella Cope, a freshman, was 40th in 18:06.82.
“Autumn also had a strong race and ran season best time. Jordyn had a great surge at the end to finish with her best time of the season,” Tipton said. “It was great having five girls finish within ten seconds of each other. Seeing that pack of red moving up during the race was exciting.”
Dallas Center-Grimes won the girls’ Class A division team title at Perry with 78 points. Ballard was second with 92 points, and Creston placed third with 94. Boone scored 100 points for fourth. Newton had 136 points to place fifth.
In the junior varsity race, sophomore Sara Cook led the way for Newton, placing 40th in 20:39.67, just ahead of junior Marisa Modlin in 20:40.28. Halie Doland, a senior, was 51st in 21:12.39, and sophomore Serena Halferty palced 81st in 25:59.
Newton has two more regular-season cross country meets before the Class 4A district/regional meet. The Cardinals were without sophomore Grace Coen Thursday because of illness.
“Grace missed this race but should be well for Monday’s meet at Norwalk,” Tipton said. “The girls ran smart races and are on track for our last three meets of the season.”
The Newton girls and boys travel to Norwalk Monday. The Norwalk Invitational is held at McAnninch Sports Complex. There are middle school races beginning at 4:30 p.m. The Varsity girls’ race is set for 5:05 followed by the boys’ varsity race at 5:25. Junior varsity races follow.
Norwalk announced a shuttle service for those attending the meet, if they park at Norwalk High School. More than 600 competitors are expected for the meet, and there’s not adequate parking at the sports complex.
Due to this, Norwalk High School will be offering a shuttle service throughout the time of the meet. Shuttle departure will be from the west end of the parking lot at Norwalk High School which is located at 1201 N Avenue. The shuttle service will begin at 4:15 and run every 15 minutes with the first shuttle returning to the high school parking lot at 4:45 and will run every 15 minutes back to the high school. The school encourages you to take advantage of this service.