Newton girls find success at annual Drake Relays

DES MOINES — Members of Newton’s 4x100-meter relay team finished 37th at the 115th Drake Relays on Saturday.

But the Cardinal foursome couldn’t have been happier with their performance on the blue oval.

Senior Lola Rivera put her hands straight into the air and screamed ‘we did it’ to sophomore teammate BrookLynn Britton when she saw the time on the big board.

Where they finished mattered little, but the time the quartet of Britton, Rivera, freshman Camryn Klein and junior Lauren Clarke posted was faster than any time a girls 4x100 relay team from Newton ran since at least 2009.

“It was fun. It was exciting. It’s awesome to PR,” Rivera said. “We have ran a season-best time the last four times we’ve run this race. We just keep getting faster.”

The Cardinals time in the 4x100 relay at the Drake Relays was clocked in a season-best 50.52 seconds. That was good enough for 37th, and it took a 49.3 to qualify for the finals.

But it was the fastest Newton time listed on Bound dating back to 2009. The Cardinals ran 50.66 at the 2023 state qualifying meet in Pella and posted a time of 50.97 in 2009.

Those are the most recent times Newton went faster than 51 seconds in the event. Rivera also was part of the 2023 foursome that advanced to state and this year’s team started with a time in the 52s.

“All we want to do is PR, and here is the place to do it,” Clarke said. “You have the support, you have everyone cheering you on. It’s great. You can’t get better than this.”

It was Rivera’s third time competing on the 4x100 relay at the Drake Relays and Clarke was on the team for the second straight season.

Klein and Britton made their Drake Relays debuts as high school athletes.

“It was a blessing to be able to run here,” Britton said. “I was very nervous, but I reminded myself that I have the whole team behind me. I don’t need to be nervous because we’re going to have fun at the end of the day.”

Clarke also competed in an individual event at the Drake Relays for the first time and the shuttle hurdle relay returned to the event for the fourth straight spring.

Senior Macy Lampe is Newton’s most veteran athlete of the Drake Relays. She ran on the shuttle hurdle relay team for the fourth time and helped her foursome place 10th overall.

The Cardinal quartet ran a season-best time of 1 minute, 7.25 seconds with Klein, Lampe and juniors Mack Sims and Tori White.

It was the second-best time among Class 3A teams. ADM finished third overall after running 1:02.06 in the finals.

“I’m so thankful to be able to run in it each year,” Lampe said. “It’s crazy. It never gets old. It’s great every year, and it’s been a different team every year, too.”

Lampe, Sims and White were on the team last season. Klein is the newbie to the squad but is a ‘natural leader who has fit right in with the group,’ according to Lampe.

Klein was mostly happy she didn’t false start and collide with a hurdle.

“It was amazing. There’s a ton of adrenaline,” Klein said. “I expected to be more nervous. The girls helped me calm my nerves. They were with me the whole time and told me to run my race.”

Lampe helped Newton finish 10th in 2022 and the returning trio was part of teams which finished 13th and eighth, respectively, the past two seasons.

“The competition and the hype is so crazy,” Sims said. “The intensity of every fan and every runner is awesome. We love shaving off time.

“Every millisecond counts, every rep counts and every moment with this group is awesome. I love them.”

Waukee Northwest (1:00.07) edged West Des Moines Valley (1:00.15) for the Drake Relays title. Indianola was fourth in 1:02.5.

White would have liked to have gone faster but felt good out of her blocks. Class 2A Cascade edged Newton at the finish line for ninth, finishing in 1:07.15.

“I heard the girl in Lane 1 and 2 coming,” White said about Cascade. “I saw her out of the corner of my eye. I tried to go faster, but it didn’t work out. It still pushed us to a season best though. Unfortunately, she got me at the line.”

White loves the current crop of hurdlers as much as the ones from past years. Each athlete brings something different to the table.

“Running it freshman year and falling and then coming back here now has been a change every year,” White said. “It’s been fun to run it with different people every year. It’s a different vibe.”

Clarke was the first Cardinal to step onto the blue oval this weekend. She competed in the 100 dash on Friday and finished 17th after qualifying with the 28th-best time.

Clarke tied her career-best time of 12.51 in the prelims. That was the eighth-best time in 3A, and the final qualifying time was 12.33. Davenport Assumption’s Kelly Grobstich won the 100 in 11.82.

“I wanted to PR and just move up in my placing, and I did that,” Clarke said. “It’s nerve-wracking though. Last year I was only here for the 4x100. Now I’m here as an individual. It’s insane to think how far I’ve worked up to in one year.

“My block starts need wok. And I’ll continue to work on my reaction time.”