SOLON– The Spartan boys track and field team visited Maquoketa Valley High School on Monday, April 26, capturing the championship title for the Maquoketa Valley Wildcat Relays.
Solon scored 131 points, followed by West Delaware (84), Edgewood-Colesburg (76), host Maquoketa Valley (75), Jesup (57), North Linn (50), Alburnett (47), Springville (27), Clayton Ridge (17), Starmont (13), Central Elkader (10) and Central City (2).
Consistency paid off for the Spartans in Maquoketa.
Solon was bolstered by first-place finishes, totaling a third of the team’s points, in the 100-meter dash by Colton Hoffman in 11.46; the 200-meter dash by Brayden Rickertsen in 23.33; the 1,600-meter distance medley relay by the team of Colton Hoffman, Brayden Rickertsen, Blake Timmons and Ben DeValk in 3:43.95 and the shuttle hurdle relay team of Jackson Ryan, Brady Mullen, Nash Kotar and Brady Jeworrek in 1:06.29.
“This week we (saw) ourselves come closer to true team success and what that will look like,” Head Coach Mark Sovers summarized. “Two important aspects of team success, we are finding out, are consistency and complementary.
“We were able to score team points in 17 of the 19 events at Maquoketa Valley, on our way to the overall team championship,” he continued. “Our distance runners, who have shown consistency throughout the year, led us.”
The 4×800-meter relay team of Michael Yeomans, Ty Becicka, Noelan Garbes and Brick Kabela finished third; Michael Yeomans finished second in the 1,600-meter run with Brick Kabela sixth; Colton Hoffman, Brayden Rickertsen, Blake Timmons and Tyler Bilskie were first in the distance medley relay; and Ben DeValk placed second in the 800-meter run.
The Spartans also found success on the shoulders of complementary performances at Clear Creek Amana (CCA) High School, in Tiffin, at the Pacha Coed Relays on Thursday, April 29, capturing second with 145.5 team points, behind host CCA’s 156 points. Tipton (86), Monticello (83), Mount Vernon (61.5), Anamosa (54), Williamsburg (51), Davenport Assumption (47), Durant (31), Benton Community (18) and Iowa City Regina (4) rounded out the field.
Solon collected points in 18 of the 19 events.
“The ability to score throughout the lineup, no matter the event, is one of our strengths,” Sovers said. “Our athletes have done a great job of valuing the success of their teammates. This has led to some exciting complementary performances.”
Coach Sovers tabulated some the Pacha successes.
“Field events,” he began. “(Scored) 33.5 points total (including the) Colton Hoffman second-place finish in the high jump, Oaken Foster fifth place in the high jump, Parker Pentico fifth place in the long jump, Zach Harp third in the shot put, Nash Altman fourth in the shot put, Zach Harp second place in the discus and Adam Smith eighth in the discus.”
Coach Sovers added, “Hurdles (scored) 22 points (including the) shuttle hurdle relay second-place finish (by) Jackson Ryan, Brady Mullen, Nash Kotar and Brady Jeworrek; 110-meter high hurdles Brady Mullen third-place finish (and) Brady Jeworrek fourth-place finish; and 400-meter low hurdles Bo Janssen seventh-place finish.”
Coach Sovers was pleased with the team’s ability to gel throughout the season.
“As coaches,” he said, “we are proud of this team and their ability to embrace the individual gifts and talents they have and begin to share them with others.”
The Spartans are scheduled to participate Thursday, May 6, at Independence High School in the Boys Varsity WaMaC Conference Meet at 4:30 p.m. The state qualifier meet takes place at Spartan Stadium, in Solon, on Thursday, May 13, at a time yet to be determined.
“As we head into the championship part of our season,” Coach Sovers stated. “We know our best consistent and complementary track and field performances are ahead of us.”
2021 Boys Wildcat Invitational results from April 26, courtesy of Black Squirrel Timing:
4×800 relay- 3. Michael Yeomans, Ty Becicka, Noelan Garbes, Brick Kabela 9:06.45 (6).
100m- 1. Colton Hoffman 11.46 (10), 4. Sean Stahle 11.87 (4).
400m- 4. Tyler Bilskie 55.62 (4), 5. Rhett Mesch 56.29 (2).
4×200 relay- 2. Trin Eidahl, Michael Pipolo, Grant Gerdin, Bo Janssen 1:36.75 (8).
110m hurdle- 4. Brady Jeworrek 16.54 (4), 5. Brady Mullen 16.65 (2).
1,600m- 2. Michael Yeomans 4:53.60 (8), 6. Brick Kabela 5:04.81 (1).
200m- 1. Brayden Rickertsen 23.33 (10), 8. Oliver Burns 24.84.
400m hurdle- 4. Bo Janssen 1:00.70 (4), 5. Oaken Foster 1:02.74 (2).
1,600m SMR- 1. Colton Hoffman, Brayden Rickertsen, Blake Timmons, Ben Devalk 3:43.95 (10).
800m- 2. Ben Devalk 2:08.17 (8), 10. Ty Becicka 2:18.94.
4×100 relay- 2. Trin Eidahl, Danny Knezevich, Blake Timmons, Brayden Rickertsen 45.30 (8).
4×800 relay- 3. Austin Knight, Jeremy Bachus, Rhett Mesch, Rhyse Wear 3:40.38 (6).
High jump- 3. Oaken Foster 5-08.00 (6), 6. Jeremy Bachus 5-06.00 (1).
Discus- 6. Adam Smith 124-05 (1), 8. Jackson Clevenger 117-09.50.
Shot put- 5. Reese Trepanier 40-02.00 (2).
Long jump- 3. Parker Pentico 18-01.50 (6), 4. Colton Hoffman 117-08.50 (4).
Shuttle hurdle- 1. Jackson Ryan, Brady Mullen, Nash Kotar, Brady Jeworrek 1:06.29 (10).
800m SMR- 4. Brady Jeworrek, Grant Gerdin, Trin Eidahl, Zach Capper 1:41.49 (4).
Pacha Relay results courtesy of Kauder Racing for April 29:
High jump- 2. Colton Hoffman 6-0 (8), 5. Oaken Foster 5-8 (3.5).
Long jump- 8. Parker Pentico 19-8.75 (1), 11. Brett White 18-7.
Shot put- 3. Zach Harp 45-9 (6), 4. Nash Altman 45-0 (5).
Discus- 2. Zach Harp 143-9 (8), 8. Adam Smith 121-9.5 (1).
800m SMR- 2. Trin eidahl, Colton Hoffman, Brayden Rickertsen, Blake Timmons 1:37.49 (8).
3,200m- 8. Brick Kabela 11:30.74 (1).
4×800 relay- 4. Ben Devalk, Michael Yeomans, Ty Becicka, Tyler Bilskie 8:58.72 (5).
Shuttle hurdle- 2. Jackson Ryan, Brady Mullen, Nash Kotar, Brady Jeworrek (8).
100m- 2. Colton Hoffman 12.20 (8), Michael Purdy NT.
1,600m DMR- 4. Sean Stahle, Michael Pipolo, Jeremy Bachus, Michael Yeomans 4:00.57 (5).
400m- 1. Brayden Rickertsen 52.12 (10), 5. Rhyse Wear 55.49 (4).
4×200 relay- 1. Trin Eidahl, Blake Timmons, Grant Gerdin, Colton Hoffman 1:35.14 (10), 11. Jabob Timmons, Parker Pentico, Oliver Burns, Brent Lumpkin 1:39.99.
110m hurdles- 3. Brady Mullen 15.77 (6), 4. Brady Jeworrek 16.15 (5).
800m- 2. Ben Devalk 2:05.85 (8), 7. Tyler Bilskie 2:09.75 (2).
200m- 3. Brayden Rickertsen 23.14 (6), 4. Blake Timmons 23.23 (5).
400m hurdle- 7. Bo Janssen 1:01.99 (2), 9. Oaken Foster 1:02.22.
1,600m- 2. Ben Devalk 4:40.54 (8), 8. Michael Yeomans 4:59.58 (1).
4×100 relay- 3. Trin Eidahl, Grant Gerdin, Brady Jeworrek, Danny Knezevich 45.18 (6), 11. Brody Kerkhoff, Michael Purdy, Tino Longo, Jacob Timmons 48.59.
4×400 relay- 4. Blake Timmons, Brayden Rickertsen, Bo Janssen, Jeremy Bachus 3:33.55 (5).