Newton, Bunnell advance to state meet Friday

IOWA CITY – Aubree Bunnell collapsed into the hands of a family member and was pulled from the finish line under the roping to get her out of the way of other finishers Thursday afternoon in Iowa City.
The good news is that’s she’s fine. The other good news is that only four runners finished in front of her and she advanced to next weekend’s IGHSAU/IHSAA State Cross Country Meet at Kennedy Park in Fort Dodge. Bunnell finished fifth with a time of 20:25.4.
The girls run at 2 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 30. The boys run at 2:45 and that event will feature Hawk freshman phenom Drake Newton, who did Bunnell one better and finished fourth, overcoming two runners in the last 1000 meters and finished with a 17:13.50 behind Chariton’s Lucas Anderson (16:21.0) and Cy Stuart's 16:27.7. Anderson and Stuart ran one and two for 4500 meters of the 5K. Mediapolis' Will Schmidgall was third with a 17:04.
“I wanted to kick, but I didn’t have anything left. My plan was I knew those two Chariton kids would get out and run their race and I didn’t try to stick with them,” Newton said.
“I was trying to stick with the Mediapolis kid, he’s a really great runner. I did that for most of the race. I tried to keep that pace and then not fall back.”
The freshman said he’s never run at Kennedy Park and said he’s looking forward to the challenge. He gave credit to his teammates and the coaching staff, including his father Chase Newton, Central Lee’s Head Coach.
"A lot of this was from the help of my teammates and coaches. They really pushed me to do the best I can and give my best effort,” he said.
He said his goal going to state for the first time as a freshman is to try to finish in the top 10.
Chase Newton said he was happy for Drake and Aubree, but saddened for the seniors who have had a great year.

“Happy for our individual runners, but sad to see the last run for the seniors. They’ve had a good four years and I’m sad to see them go. They’ve helped build this team and we’re excited to see where the team is at and where we can go,” Newton said.
“I think it was just one of those days. There’s a lot of good competition. This is a very tough draw for districts. They were up to the challenge and feeling good about things, but it just wasn’t our day.
Bunnell said she wanted to push herself on the hills but then take advantage of the downhills, as well. The course is a 500-meter straight away out of the box and then a short but decent uphill run to the upper level of the soccer park. The rest is fairly level with a gradual run back down the incline about halfway through the route at Kicker's Park. The runners had to complete two laps for the 5K.
“I definitely had a strategy to get my push on the hills, but then it was to keep my pace and then use the downhills,” she said.
“Once I got out in front of most of them, I just wanted to get my pace,” she said. Bunnell had a nice 42nd-place finish out of 136 runners last year as a sophomore. She finished with a 20:52.4. She said she wants to have fun next week and is hoping for a little cooler weather.
“I’m really excited to return and my goal next week is to just PR and have some fun.”
Other Lady Hawks to compete for Central Lee at the district qualifier were Savannah Overton with a 22:27.6 (31st), Addalie Daly 22:48.8 (36th), Adella Adkins 24:02.6 (53rd), Macy Anderson 24:07.9 (54th), Mckenna Fransk 24:40.8 (58th), and Ari Weinberg 27:28.30 (80th).
For the boys, Caedon Newton was second in for Central Lee at 19:10.5 (38th), Austin Fogarty 19:19.2 (42nd), Orion St. Clair 19:41.8 (49th), Caden Crozier 19:57.4 (54th), Joseph Kruse 20:25.4 (67th), and Kaidin Humes 20:37.9 (70th).
The two join Fort Madison’s Hunter Wiegand, who will run in the 3A boys' meet on Saturday at 11:15.