The Newton boys and girls cross country teams traveled to Ahrens Park in Grinnell last night and both squads came home with 3rd place finishes.  

The Newton boys had 77 points, and #10 in Class 3A Grinnell won with 33 and #18 in 3A Knoxville was second with 71. Newton’s best time was turned in by sophomore Cooper Lenz. His 17:48.7 run was the 5th fastest of the 106 runners, Senior Javin Doland was 10th with a time of 18:07.7, and Junior Lance Zabel’s 18:11.0 was good enough for 13th. Newton Coach Steve Weeks said the team ran a pretty solid race. He noted times on the whole are improving but more progress is still needed. 

The Newton girls’ 80 point 3rd place finish was behind Williamsburg and Lynnville-sSully, who had 29 points and 41 points respectively. Freshman Audrey Muckler had the Cardinals best time of 21:26.7, good enough for 5th place. Senior Bella Winther was 16th at 23:10.8. Newton Girls also placed 21st through 24th in the field of 69 runners  They were sophomores Sarah Malow, Meghan Trout, Alivia Kingery, and freshman Talia Friedman. Kingery’s time of 24:04,6 was a personal best, according to Newton Girls Coach Rachelle Tipton. Tipton added the team went into last night knowing 3rd place should be a lock, but they were not complacent about it. The Newton Boys and Girls Cross Country teams will travel to St. Louis this weekend to compete in the Forest Park Cross Country Festival.

The undefeated Newton Colfax-Mingo Pella Aquagirls traveled to Williamsburg for a dual last night and continued their string of convincing wins. The Aquagirls beat Williamsburg 132 to 38 to improve to 5-0. The team also defeated Williamsburg last week 115 to 48, and has victories over Grinnell 112 to 71, Indianola 133 to 28, and Tipton 116-32. The Aquagirls will travel to the DMACC Ankeny Campus tomorrow to compete at 5:30 against Ankeny Centennial, Ankeny, and Des Moines Roosevelt.