It’s deep into October. In the cross country world, it’s the postseason countdown. Summer workouts, fall practice and a dozen meets are in the rear view mirror. The conference meet, state qualifier and, hopefully for Solon runners, the state meet mark the season’s finale. For Solon’s top five ranked Class 3A boys and girls teams, two targets remain on the schedule; the Class 3A state qualifier Wednesday at the Solon Recreation and Nature Area and, perhaps, the Oct. 29 state meet in Fort Dodge.
Those dates follow a strong showing Oct. 14 at the WAMAC Conference meet, also on Solon’s home course. The Class 3A top ranked Lady Spartans posted another win, with the boys, ranked fifth in the state rankings, showing a strong second.
The girls ran away with the WAMAC title with 48 points.
“A commanding win, a great race,” head coach Emy Williams said. “The varsity girls brought in three top 10 finishers, with their fourth and fifth scoring runners close behind.”
Mount Vernon-Lisbon (87), Clear Creek-Amana (96) and Center Point-Urbana (109) fought for the runner-up spots in the 13 school field. From there, it was Marion (115), Williamsburg (120), Dyersville Beckman (136), Benton (187), West Delaware (248), South Tama (285), Independence (328), Maquoketa (355) and Vinton-Shellsburg (382).
Individually, CPU’s Kora Katcher was first (19:27). For the Lady Spartans, Kayla Young was first over the finish line, third overall in 19:45. Gracie Federspiel was sixth in the 87 girl field at 20:17. Right behind were Anna Quillin (seventh, 20:21), Emma Bock (14th, 20:40) and Kaia Holtkamp (18th, 20:46). Insurance came from Mary Fiala (27th, 21:12) and Mara Düster (29th, 21:16), each finishing before the first runner from five WAMAC schools even entered the finish line chute.
That strong varsity showing is credited to overall team strength.
“That’s amazing,” exclaimed Williams. “Another strong emphasis is the JV finish, a perfect 1-2-3-4-5. We are at our conference meet and the JV girls claim 10 of the top 20 spots.”
Among them, senior Meghan O’Neill.
“She was phenomenal,” Williams said.
O’Neill and a couple other upperclassmen rotated back and forth from varsity to the top of the JV all season.
At WaMaC, O’Neill crossed in 20:44 which would have been good for a 16th place varsity finish. Ashlynn Williams, Mia Duckett, Ella Sheeley and Rose McAtee followed in order, for the 15 point perfect score. Teammates Annika Kruse, Kerrigan Lyons and Kate Richards were right behind (7-8-9) among the 119 JV runners.
On the boys’ side again, Brick Kabela and Gabe Hinman were Solon’s one-two varsity punch. Kabela took fourth in 16:49 and Hinman seventh in 16:59. Each good for individual all-conference honors. Center Point-Urbana’s Eli Larson was first across among the 90 varsity boys in 15:52.
The statewide coaches team rankings show how competitive the boys finish was.
Marion, ranked second in Class 3A, was the WaMaC winner (38 points) followed by the fifth ranked 3A Spartans (81). Williamsburg (ranked third in 2A) was third with 89 points. Mount Vernon-Lisbon, (seventh ranked in 3A) was fourth, tallying 114. Then it went South Tama (143), Clear Creek-Amana, 15th in 3A, (144), Center Point Urbana, 18th in 3A, (175), Benton (214), West Delaware (291), Vinton Shellsburg (269) and Maquoketa (340).
For the Spartans, Mike Yeomans was 22nd (17:49). Ty Becicka was next across in 17:21 with Grant Bumsted 25th (18:11). Ethan McLaughlin was 35th (18:35) and Nolan Pauley next through the chute (18:41).
“Our varsity boys have really been working on closing the gap between our 1-2 and our 3-4-5 finishers, which helps bring the team score down, as the next three hit the finish line,” observed Williams.
Pushing them from the JV field were Nate Ferguson (1st) and Nate Sinwell (4th), who helped deliver a team win, 35 to 45 over Mount Vernon-Lisbon, with the rest of the teams trailing close behind.
“A great win over Mount Vernon-Lisbon for our JV runners,” Williams said.
From the State Qualifier, it’s a rush to state at Fort Dodge.
Class 3A girls run at 2:30 Friday, Oct. 29, with the boys following about 3:15 p.m. Solon’s boys challenge their Class 3A runner up finish from last year. The girls look to improve on their fifth-place 2020 finish.

Gallery • 6 Photos

Margaret Stevens | Staff photo

Solon runners Nolan Pauley (left) and Ethan McClaughlin stick together through a turn. Both finished in the Top 40.