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TAMA — If Monday's South Tama Early Bird Invitational was any indication of how the season will go for the Newton boys and girls track teams, the Cardinals are in for big things this spring.
Both Newton teams had stellar meets, earning the sweep by finishing atop the standings on both sides as the boys took first out of nine teams and the girls won an eight-team field. The Cardinal boys finished with 153 points, seven better than host South Tama. BCLUW was third with 99, GMG was fourth with 76 and East Marshall took fifth with 34. The Newton girls won with 124 points, Benton Community was five points back, South Tama was third with 97, followed by East Marshall (84) and BCLUW (77.5).
Girls
Out of 14 scheduled events, the Newton girls had 20 place-winners (first-sixth) that scored. The Cardinals won six events, took second in five, third in three, fourth in two, fifth in three and sixth in two.
"It was an exciting night of competition for us," coach Rachel Tomas said. "It is great to walk away with several first-place finishers and a first-place team finish. Our goal was to improve on our performances from Boone (March 29). We definitely succeeded in our goal. I was very pleased with all the girls. They performed well, and many had personal-best or season-best performances."
Newton earned big points from its throwers, as sophomore Michaela Bleeker won the shot put with a toss of 35 feet, 63⁄4 inches and senior Courtney Meyer won the discus with a throw of 113 feet, 10 inches. Meyer also took second in the shot put (34-31⁄2).
The Cardinals' first winner on the track was sophomore Amber Karsten, who won the 400-meter dash in 1 minute, 2.2 seconds. Junior Alexis DesPlanque followed with a victory in the 800 in 2:34.52, while senior teammate Ellen Colville was second in 2:41.90.
The team's other two wins came in relays. The 4x400 team of DesPlanque, freshman Anna Barr, Colville and Karsten took first in 4:21.99, and same group of girls took the 4x800 in 10:28.59. Newton also took second in the 4x100 shuttle hurdle and 800 sprint medley, third in the 4x100 and fourth in the distance medley.
The Cardinals' other two individual runners-up were senior Alora Simmons in the high jump (4-foot, eight inches) and junior Amanda Richtsmeier in the 400 hurdles (1:13.0).
Boys
On the boys side, Newton won five events, took second in eight, third and fourth in three, fifth in two and sixth in one.
Junior thrower Derrick Hurt provided the Cardinals with two wins, taking the shot put and discus with throws of 50 feet even and 133 feet, 11 inches, reflectively. His shot put toss broke his personal-best by five inches.
Junior newcomer Andrew Clements won the 200 in 23.77 seconds, while senior teammate Blake Tish was fourth and freshman Jarom Williams was sixth. Newton went 1-2 in the next event as senior Dakota Hills and sophomore Jacob Walker took first and second in the 400, with Hills winning in 51.90 seconds.
The Cardinals' other victory came in the 4x400, where the team of Clements, junior Taylor Field, Walker and Hills took first in 3:34.0.
Newton's many second-place showings included freshman Deonne Harris in the high jump (5 foot, 8 inches) and 110 hurdles (16.23), freshman Christian Laube in the 3,200 (11:16.47), Field in the 400 hurdles (1:00.66), the 4x100, 4x200 and 1,600 sprint medley.
Taking third was Hills in the long jump, Thomas in the 3,200 and the shuttle hurdle team.
Boys standings
1, Newton 153; 2, South Tama 146; 3, BCLUW 99; 4, GMG 76; 5, East Marshall 34; 6, Columbus Catholic 31; 7, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 22; 8, Wapsie Valley 18; 9, Pella 7.
Girls standings
1, Newton 124; 2, Benton Community 119; 3, South Tama 97; 4, East Marshall 84; 5, BCLUW 77.5; 6, GMG 56.5; 7, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 29; 8, Columbus Catholic 19.