SOLON– Win 10 events? Finish second in six more?
The Lady Spartans more than doubled the score of runner-up Cedar Rapids Prairie and left nine more schools in their dust at the 2021 Denny Gruber Coed Relays, April 24, at Solon.
Scoring in 18 of the 19 events, and double-placing in eight, meant piling up 178 points for the title. Prairie (69) was second, followed by Mount Vernon (67), Pekin (51), Marion (52), North Cedar (40), Vinton-Shellsburg (40), Iowa City Regina (31), Benton Community (23) and Dyersville-Beckman (23).
That haul included two wins and two seconds in the four field events, plus a second girl scoring in each. Kaia Holtkamp’s 5-0 topped the high jump field, backed by Hailey Miller’s 4-8 (sixth). In the long jump, MaKinley Levin’s 16-8 1/2 won, with teammate Aisley Foster’s 15-4 sixth. At the shot-put ring, Ava Conrad (37-0 3/4) and Leah Kollar (34-2 3/4) were second and fourth. Conrad came back with a 117-5 discus toss. Ashley Holubar’s 99-10 was good for fourth.
“We came together pretty well; another showing of our depth; being able to spread things out, get everybody in,” reviewed Solon Head Coach Brent Sands. “Given the (windy) conditions, and looking at the other runners at the meet, we ran real well. It was good to see all of the kids in several events; showing what they could do.”
On the track, early wins came in the 800 sprint medley (1:51.80, Mia Stahle, Mia Duckett, Sophie Stahle and Emma Bock) and 3,000 (11:24.84, Kiersten Conway). The meet ended with Solon wins in the 4×100 relay (52.09, Monet Barnhouse, Addie McQuinn, Sophia Stahle and Duckett) and 4×400 (4:13.07, with Holtkamp, Meghan O’Neill, Ashley Stinocher and Bock passing the baton).
In between? Anna Quillin, O’Neill, Kerrigan Lyons and Ashlyn Williams chalked up third (10:34.44) in the 4×800. Sophia Stahle anchored the shuttle hurdle relay to second (1:10.92), with help from Jada Buffington, Mia Stahle and Calla Foster. Buffington sees progress, heading late into the season. “I’m getting the same times, so I’m working on my starts, jumping out a lot better,” she said. “And as I clear the hurdles, I focus more on ‘leading’ my leg over the hurdle, not coming straight up.”
“We see things (too,) like Calla Foster running her best time in the 100 hurdles,” pointed out Sands. “Heather Bachus is running real well. Abby Felton PR’d by 12 feet in the discus. Anna Quillin is getting under 2:30 consistently now (in the 800). Gracie Federspiel is getting back (after a couple weeks out of the lineup). We got a good, solid 800 from her.”
In the 100 meters, MaKinley Levin picked up fourth-place points (13:42). McQuinn was sixth (13.48). In the distance, or 1,600-meter medley, Ava Stebral, Heather Bachus and Grace Fiederspiel brought the baton around to Holtkamp, who sealed a 4:24.97 win. Bock’s (59.93) 400 was a winner, backed by Aisley Foster’s (1:09.15) fifth. In the 4×200 relay, Barnhouse, Adelyn Leichtman, McQuinn and Miller were fourth (1:56.32).
A couple events later, Quillin set the pace, winning the open 800 (2:31.36), with Federspiel (2:31.81) second. In the next event, Duckett (26.81) and MaKinley Levin (26.88) went one-two as well, in the 200. Mia Stahle (1:13.48) was second in the 400 hurdles. Conway returned in the 1,500, taking fifth place (5:27.68).
With a conference meet, and postseason approaching, the focus will be on fine tuning what is already there.
“We have a lot of people sprinting well. We need to identify the top six, at each event… to spread everything out; taking in recovery time needed,” said Sands, noting that a lot will depend on what the state athletic union will lay out, with assignments, schedules, to align with the team’s strengths. “We want to score a lot of points. We want to know how we will do in the next week or so; who and which events can make it to state.”
That April 24 home meet– delayed by cold weather and threats of snow and rain– came just two days after Solon left a pandemic-lowered Drake Relays crowd wondering how the Class 3A state meet might shape up. The Lady Spartans made a big impression, with their nine entries in the one-class high school division at the 112th Drake Relays in Des Moines.
Moving on from the Drake Relays
With top entries from university, college and some open competitors from across the country, a major feature of The Relays is the slate of events for Iowa high schoolers. Qualifiers have to beat an entry time or mark set by Drake. Emma Bock’s 2:15.99 800-meter run took the top place for Solon’s contingent, third in the field of 16. Teammate Kaia Holtkamp (2:19.67) was close behind, in seventh place.
“I wanted to be in the 2:15 range. That would be a four-second drop from my last 800s. I was just hoping to stick with the 2:17 girls… and see what I could do,” reviewed Bock. “Overall, it was just awesome out there; crazy! You realize everybody around you is huge competition. With our team there, we could enjoy the experience together.”
“We were really excited about their 800s,” agreed Sands. “They really attacked it, went for it with confidence. Shuttle hurdles had a big jump, too, from 16 to 10th.”
There, Jada Buffington, Mia Stahle, Calla Foster and Sophie Stahle were eighth (1:09.57) of the 16 schools in their event. “I think the team’s pretty high right now. We’re all super excited,” added Buffington. “Going down to Drake, we all get along really well. A lot of us had PRs. I think Drake boosted our confidence a bit more!”
“Ava (Conrad) set a goal, of 118 feet in the discus… and went 121. I thought she really showed up to perform. Overall, we finished at about the same position we went in (statewide comparisons). We did drop a second in the 4×200, pushing us up a little in the 3A field,” noted Sands.
There, Mia Stahle, Callie Levin, Sophia Stahle and MaKinley Levin ran a 1:47.87 on Drake’s Blue Oval.
Sophia Stahle, Callie Levin, MaKinley Levin and Bock, raced to 12th (1:51.63) in a field of 24 mostly-4A schools in the sprint medley relay. Mia Stahle, Callie Levin, Sophia Stahle and Mia Duckett brought the 4×100 baton around in 51.83. MaKinley Levin made the long jump field, and had a 15-7 best there. In the 4×400 relay, Holtkamp, MaKinley Levin, Bock with Ashley Stinocher anchoring, turned in a 4:08.76; a top-15 finish in the statewide field.
After the Center Point-Urbana meet Monday, April 26, the girls stay closer to home Thursday, April 29, at the Pacha Relays at Clear Creek-Amana.
Senior Recognition Day came Saturday, April 24, during a break in the Denny Gruber Coed Relays. From the left, Solon’s senior girls; Maggie Winders, Selma Kleinsmith, Kiersten Conway, Ashley Stinocher, Ava Conrad, CeCe McSweeney, Ellie Wolff, Heather Bachus and Monet Barnhouse.