DES MOINES– The lead changed hands each day in the Class 3A girls’ state track meet in Drake Stadium in Des Moines, May 20-22. In eighth place after five finals events on Day 1, Solon’s girls were tied for the team lead after Day 2. As the meet closed Saturday, the Lady Spartans locked up the runner-up slot, with second place in the 4×400 meter relay.
Wahlert’s 59-point finish was good for the team crown. Solon, with 51, was the best of the rest. Carlisle’s 46 points were good for third. Western Dubuque (42), Davenport Assumption (41), Charles City and Keokuk (with 34 apiece), Bonduarant-Farrar (32), Ballard and Pella (each with 31) kept the team scores tight for the top 10. Overall, 39 3A schools qualified entries for state.
“We scored in all seven relays. It was definitely a team effort,” emphasized Solon Head Coach Brent Sands. “I told the girls, we could have a good weekend, yet still finish 10th. There were a lot of teams, with different strengths; teams that could steal points away from each other. We exceeded what I really thought we could do. The 4×400? 4×800? The distance medley? We had a chance to win in all of them… and we got two.”
And at state, every point is important; sometimes with a different lineup, or shuffling the order of runners. “The shuttle hurdle, the 4×2, 4×1, sprint medley, different lineups or anchors? Ava Conrad in the shot put? Everybody exceeded expectations. That meant very important points for us,” summarized Sands.
Their first win came Thursday morning in the 4×800 meter relay. Junior Kaia Holtkamp and freshman Anna Quillin worked back and forth with the leader through the first two legs. Third runner Gracie Federspiel, also a freshman, went ahead for good in her first lap, with junior Emma Bock stretching the lead with a 2:18 split, for a 13-second win. At 9:21.84, the winning time was just four seconds off the 3A state record.
“With the freshmen we had coming up, we knew we should have a good 4×8 this season”, pointed out Bock. “For that to really come together (late this season) was really awesome.”
And after getting third in the distance medley (two years ago), to come back and win it this year? “That was really great, too.”
Early on Day 2, MaKinley Levin, Sophia Stahle, Holtkamp and Bock ran to victory in 4:05.77 in the 1,600-meter medley relay, less than a second better than Carlisle. Points came also in the 800-meter medley. Mia Stahle, Callie Levin, Ellie Wolff and Federspiel’s 1:51.46 was good for fifth place. From the field events, Ava Conrad moved to fifth place with her first throw in the final round of the shot put, flipping it 39-6 3/4.
Through the weekend, the 4×100 foursome of Mia Stahle, Callie Levin, Mia Duckett and Addie McQuinn ran seventh, crossing in 50.84. Hurdlers Jada Buffington, Calla Foster, Mia Stahle and Sophia Stahle were seventh in the shuttle relay in 1:08.18.
In the 4×200 relay, Callie Levin, Duckett, Sophia Stahle and MaKinley Levin were seventh, running 1:46.35 to stay in the hunt for the 3A title. The meet ended with Holtkamp, MaK Levin, Federspiel and Bock dropping nearly two seconds from their preliminary run for a 3:56.92 second-place finish in the 4×400 finals. “We were really hoping (to be in the hunt for a state title),” agreed Bock. “It’s crazy. I think we all ran great. We PR’d by almost two seconds in our 4×4. What more could we ask for?”
Solon’s strength in the key 400- and 800-meter distances also showed as Bock (2:14.91) and Holtkamp (2:17.23) finished third and sixth in the open 800.
“We did some shifting in the relays (from the regional meet to the state meet prelims, and again for the finals at state). Everybody exceeded expectations; Addy McQuinn, Sophia Stahle, Mia Duckett, Mia Stahle,” called out Sands.
The doctor isn’t always right
Injuries, ailments, surprises are each a part of life… and in sports, too. “It’s an amazing experience from where I was just two years ago,” recalled Solon senior Ashley Stinocher. “I had stomach problems. The doctor said I would not run again.”
After about two years of diet changes, investing time in the weight room, spending extra time at the track, she tried cross country again, this school year.
As a freshman and sophomore, she was an occasional varsity runner on a very deep team. Last fall? Not so fortunate. Yet she tried anyway. “Mentally, it was more of a barrier for me. I think I just had to get over that hump,” she offered.
In track this spring, she ran some slower-heat 400s; junior varsity relays. By late season, there were a few turns in the varsity 4×400 lineup. At the state qualifier, May 13, she ran her way to an at-large berth in the open 400 at the Class 3A state meet. She didn’t know she was in until practice the next day. “Words I could never imagine hearing,” she said. “I was going to state!”
She was at the starting line, May 20, in a preliminary heat. She didn’t make the finals. But she made it to the finish line. “I just can’t believe how far I’ve come,” she smiled.
The 4x800 relay was gold for the Lady Spartans. Here, Anna Quillin, Gracie Federspiel, Kaia Holtkamp and Emma Bock relax after the team’s first win on Day 1 of the state high school track meet, May 20. Besides winning their own heat, this final meant beating the rest of the 24-school field, running in separate heats.