Newton girls start season with back-to-back outdoor wins

TAMA — The Newton girls track and field team is 2-for-2.

Backed by 13 victories, the Cardinals dominated the South Tama County Early Bird Invitational on Tuesday.

Newton scored 190.5 points at the top of the standings and bettered the next best team by nearly 100 points.

“It was a chilly and long night, but we were glad to get the meet in and see the athletes come away with some great performances,” Newton head girls track and field coach Rachelle Tipton said. “The depth of the team really showed tonight in getting the win.”

Lauren Clarke and Camryn Klein were part of four wins, Bella Winther and Tori White claimed two individual victories and Abby Bruce won the long jump and was part of two relay wins for the Cardinals.

Newton’s 190.5 points included three runner-up finishes and a pair of thirds. East Marshall (94), BLCUW (69.5), Oelwein (69) and Ankeny Christian Academy (59) finalized the top five and the rest of the field featured host South Tama (46.5), Cedar Rapids Xavier (40) and GMG (12).

Winther and Lola Rivera finished 1-2 in the 200-meter dash. Winther won the race with a career-best time of 28.19 seconds and Rivera wasn’t far behind in 28.24.

Winther also won the 400 in a career-best time of 1 minute, 2.51 seconds. Alex Riney (1:07.03) and Ellie DeVries (career-best 1:10.84) placed 4-6 in the event.

Clarke was the 100 winner in 12.96 seconds and White claimed wins in both the 100 hurdles and 400 hurdles.

White hit the finish line in the 100 hurdles in 16.42 seconds, which currently ranks 14th in 3A. Mack Sims (17.29) and Macy Lampe (17.34) were 5-6 in the event.

White won the 400 hurdles in 1:13.41 and Sims was third in 1:16.9.

Lampe, Klein, Sims and White teamed up to win the shuttle hurdle relay. They posted a time of 1:08.64, which ranks second in 3A.

“The athletes have given us many outstanding performances over the last two meets, too many for everyone to get the shoutout they deserve,” Tipton said. “They are certainly doing their best to give us lots of options as we get into the later part of the season.”

Newton’s other relay wins came in the 4x100, 4x200, 4x400, 4x800 and sprint medley.

Clarke, Klein, Bruce and Rivera teamed up in the 4x100 and 4x200 and won the races in a season-best 51.82 and a season-best 1:48.04, respectively. The 4x200 time currently sits 12th in 3A.

Klein opened the 4x400 and Clarke anchored the race. Winther and Riney joined the duo and posted a winning time of 4:21.83.

Audrey Muckler, Alexis Sorensen, Riney and Temple Barton won the 4x800 relay in 10:36.41 and the team of Lampe, Ashlyn Karsten, Alivia Conley and Harper Barton scored a win in the sprint medley relay with a season-best time of 1:59.69.

The distance medley relay placed second. That group featured Neveya Miller, Conley, Harper Barton and Sorensen and they finished the race in a season-best 4:47.99.

Bruce’s long jump win featured a best mark of 15 feet, 6 1/4 inches and Karsten placed fourth with a career-best leap of 14-6.

DeVries won the high jump with a leap of 4-6 and Miller tied for sixth with a jump of 4-2.

Brooke Garvis collected one of the runner-up finishes as she placed second in the shot put with a toss of 32-11. Addie Hammerly was fourth in the discus with a throw of 95-7.

“The throwers had an excellent meet and continue to make great progress,” Tipton said. “It was also nice to see Abby Bruce get a repeat win in the long jump with another high 15 foot jump.”

Harper Barton and Muckler went 3-4 in the 800. Barton’s time was a career best 2:32.11 and Muckler posted a career-best time of 2:38.97.

Temple Barton (5:33.2), Peyton Ray (5:55.17) and Talia Friedman (career-best 5:56.2) finished 3-6-7 in the 1,500 and Meghan Trout (14:23.01) was seventh in the 3,000.