With a week of cold, rain and snow pelting eastern Iowa tracks, Solon’s girls are getting a late start on the 2022 outdoor high school track season. Indoor tracks provide good experience, while winter winds down. However, those 200 meter (or shorter) indoor facilities mean more curves, shorter straightaways, and slower times than the broader expanse of 400 meter outdoor tracks. Approaches for the jumps, throws and certain running events all factor in, too.
With two outdoor meets cancelled last week, Solon’s Lady Spartans will want to see how their early season work shakes out, this week. Their winning 4×200 relay finish in the University of Dubuque sponsored March 26 meet (1:47.25), was ranked best indoors, of all four Iowa enrollment classes). They are also watching their indoor finishes in the 4×400 (4:06.45, third) and 4×800 (9:46.72, fourth), once the starter’s gun goes off, now—outside. Weather permitting, Solon had three outdoor meets scheduled this week.
“Knowing that we had a majority of our team coming back, there were high expectations”, points out Solon head coach Brent Sands. “So, to be up there pretty high in the 4×200, 4×400, 4×800 in those early rankings is not necessarily surprising. With that, still I thought the 4×200 ran much better than I would have expected that early.”
And there is plenty of anticipation as the weather warms and more teams show up at more meets. “We saw a little bit (indoors) from our hurdlers but getting our whole shuttle hurdle relay team together; getting a couple (individual) 100 meter hurdlers; figuring out who they will be, will be a strength for us, too”, notes Sands.
Several individual performances rose to the top, as well, as Solon’s indoor season closed, at Dubuque. Emma Bock’s 59-flat 400 and 2:22.53 800, as well as Kaia Holtkamp’s 2:25.61 800 and Kayla Young’s (11:07.02) 3000 challenge the state individual leader board, too.
“We had a really impressive indoor season, probably the best one since I’ve been here”, remarks Bock, a senior and one of the leaders returning from last year’s Class 3A state runner-up team. “I am way more excited to get outdoors, now–to really see what we can do. There are going to be some crazy changes from the indoor season (performances) once we get on the outdoor track! The (outdoor meets) are more exciting, more fun once you get outdoors”, says Bock. “You’re racing against more people you know—and more often.”
Given time and space restrictions, most indoor meets can offer only a dozen or so events. Once outdoors, Iowa high schools are set for the standard 19 events. That means less ‘exploring’. “We do really need the throws (shot put, discus) to come on now. Some of the girls are working on changes; some rotating (in the ring) as opposed to gliding through”, says Sands. “And the jumps, of course. We are a little ahead of where we anticipated we would start, (but)…things will start to shake out, as we get outdoors and spread the team over more events. And we will soon see what other teams can put together, as far as a full lineup.”
Hurdler Sophia Stahle leans into her third hurdle in her heat of the 55 meter hurdles, March 26 in Dubuque. Just behind Stahle is teammate Zoey Grimm. With their first two outdoor meets cancelled, the girls hoped to open with three scheduled this week. Solon came through the indoor season ranked at or near the top of statewide rankings, in several relays and a couple individual events.