Newton girls XC takes third at Marshalltown
Aug. 28—MARSHALLTOWN — Four top-20 finishes highlighted Newton's girls cross country team at the 14th annual Marshalltown Early Bird Cross Country Invitational on Thursday.
The Cardinals scored 70 points and edged Little Hawkeye Conference rival Pella Christian (76).
Mason City won the team championship with 24 points. The River Hawks claimed five spots in the first 11 positions.
Grundy Center/Gladbrook-Reinbeck scored 51 points in second and grabbed four top-13 finishes.
Webster City (118) was the only other full team in the field. Marshalltown, South Tama County and Waterloo East all had incomplete teams.
"I am very proud of the whole team," Newton girls cross country coach Rachelle Tipton said. "They all had a great start to the season, especially considering the majority were running their first high school or first-ever cross country race.
"I'm excited to see the improvements everyone makes this season."
Hadley Kruse led the Cardinals with a fifth-place finish. She was clocked in 22 minutes, 30.7 seconds.
Kate Muckler (23:58.7) was next in 12th, Bella Winther (25:44.8) finished 16th and Paxton Panada (26:47.2) came in 20th.
The final scoring runner was Abbie Preston, who finished 28th in 29:44.2.
Jessie Hutchinson (30:54.2) and Carol Sander (35:59) were the non-scoring runners in 30th and 34th, respectively.
Panada, Preston, Hutchinson and Sander all made their varsity debuts.
"Hadley took off with the pack and kept confident even when it broke away a bit," Tipton said. "She held that top-five position well.
"Jessie has looked strong in practice, and it was no surprise when she was nearing the end with a great time. She had a fantastic sprint to not only get the PR but to get under 31:00."
Mason City's Audra Mulholland won the girls' 5K race in 20:33.6 and her teammate Savannah Davis was second in 21:33.4.
