Newton boys sprint to third at Grinnell Coed Tiger Relays

GRINNELL — Guess who’s back, back again? The defending champions are back. Tell a friend.

Newton’s Class 3A defending sprint medley relay champions teamed up in Grinnell on Tuesday, and the Cardinals now have the best time in the state.

It was the second straight night the quartet of Nick Thomason, Reilly Trease, Christian Ergenbright and Caden Klein competed in the sprint medley relay and the group posted the state’s best time on both nights.

The victory was part of four wins, and the Newton boys track and field team placed third at the Grinnell Coed Tiger Relays.

Pleasant Valley won the meet championship with 90 points. Pella (85) was five points back in second and the rest of the field included Newton (76), Iowa City Liberty (58), Grinnell (47) and Williamsburg (34).

The Cardinals finished in the top three in both the sprint medley and shuttle hurdle relays.

Thomason, Trease, Ergenbright and Klein won the sprint medley relay in a season-best 1 minute, 32.22 seconds, which leads the state.

The shuttle hurdle relay was third in 1:04.44 with Trease, Cade Bauer, Drew Bauer and Austin Arauz.

The other three wins came from Thomason in the 100, Klein in the 200 and Nick Milburn in the shot put.

Thomason won the 100 in 11.21 seconds and Milburn’s winning throw in the shot put covered 55 feet, 1 inch.

Klein and Ergenbright finished 1-3 in the 200. Klein won the race in a career-best 21.97, which ranks sixth in the state and third in 3A. Ergenbright was third in 22.48.

The Cardinals came in second twice and both individuals posted career-best times.

Ali Yahia’s career-best 52.34 put him second in the 400 and Dawson Maki was sixth in 53.36.

Cade Bauer finished second in the 400 hurdles in a career-best 57.9 and Mason Mendez was fourth in a career-best 59.84.

Trease (15.81) and Arauz (career-best 15.87) also were 3-4 in the 110 high hurdles, Milburn (135-8) and Zach Felten (131-1) placed third and fifth, respectively, in the discus and Cade Bauer (career-best 5-10) and Isaiah Hansen (5-6) went 3-6 in the high jump.

Alameen Shanto collected the final top-three finish. He was third in the long jump with a leap of 20-3.

Cardinals finish fourth at Tulip Time Relays

PELLA — Newton won the sprint medley and distance medley relays and Shanto placed first in the long jump as the Cardinals scored 54 points in fourth place at the Tulip Time Relays on Monday.

It was an otherwise quiet night for the Cardinals as this was the first of two meets on consecutive nights.

Host Pella won the meet title with 228 points. Dowling Catholic scored 118 points in second and the rest of the field featured Pella Christian (93) and Oskaloosa (37).

The Cardinals’ sprint medley relay team included Thomason, Trease, Ergenbright and Klein and they won the race in 1:33.05. That time ranked first in the state at the time of completion and would have been their second-fastest time last season.

The winning distance medley relay team featured Jace Auen, Hansen, Yahia and Maki. They posted a season-best time of 3:48.65.

Shanto’s winning long jump mark covered 20-9 and Hansen was second in the high jump with a career-best leap of 6-0.

Arauz finished fourth in the 400 hurdles in a career-best 1:00.95, and he took sixth in the 110 high hurdles in 16.6 seconds.

The other top-six individual finish came from Jackson Riney, who placed sixth in the discus with a toss of 112-11.