Cool, wet spring slows early season track progress
What’s the saying? April showers bring…May flowers? Oh, and havoc to spring track schedules. Solon’s girls squeezed in two meets, between five cancellations over the last couple weeks, as a short, dry indoor season unrolled into to the cold, soggy outdoors.
With so many missed dates, light showers and temperatures in the 40s kept it barely tolerable as the crowd bundled up and 15 teams stayed on the move throughout Williamsburg Co-ed Invitational April 5. Four days later, skies cleared and it was near 50 for the Davenport Assumption Co-ed meet. Two meets and two big wins as the high school format expands to 19 outdoor events.
Rainy and cold…but 45 point win at Williamsburg.
The Lady Spartans racked up wins in five of the 19 events, taking second in eight others, on their way to 154 team points, and a wide win. The win hoisted Solon to the #1 spot, for a few days at least, in the state Girls Athletic Union Class 3A power rankings.
Cedar Rapids Prairie (109), with the top 4A power ranking, was runner-up. Host Williamsburg was third (75). Then came Mt. Pleasant (60), Iowa City West (57), Center Point-Urbana (55), Mid-Prairie (51), Mt. Vernon (46), Clear Creek-Amana (44), Alburnett (26), Belle Plaine (23), Benton (19), Washington (8), Grinnell (7) and Iowa City Regina (4).
“They seemed to perform pretty well; didn’t let the elements get to them”, observed Coach Brent Sands. “In the first event (the 800 sprint medley), they hit the ‘Blue Standard (for an automatic berth in the upcoming Drake Relays). Maybe they were really anxious to start running. It gets to be a grind in practice; there is only so much you can do inside.”
The Solon win came with heavy help from the relays. In that sprint medley, Mia Stahle, MaKinley Levin, Sophia Stahle and Emma Bock had the carries for a1:49.28 win. In the 1600 meter distance medley, Addy McQuinn, Emma Wolff, Callie Levin and Kaia Holtkamp were first across, at 4:34.05. Also, first—in the meet’s final race—were Holtkamp, Meghan O’Neill, Gracie Federspiel and Bock in 4:07.33 in the 4×400 relay.
Runner-up points came in the 4×100 (51.66) relay, with Mia Duckett, Aly Stahle, McQuinn and MaKinley Levin moving the baton. In the 4×200, second place went to Mia Stahle, Duckett, MaK Levin and Olivia Bonnema, crossing at 1:49.89. The shuttle hurdle foursome picked up 8th with ‘the Stahles’ (Sophie, Aly, Mia) and Callie Foster (1:14.15). O’Neill, Anna Quillin, Grace Hoeper and Federspiel teamed up for second (10:06.25) in the 4×800.
O’Neill pulled on her sprinter’s shoes to win the 400 (1:03.80). Teammate Anna Quillin was third in 1:05.48. Aly Stahle ran 27.01 for the 200 meter dash win, with teammate Mia Duckett second, at 28.07. Earlier, Duckett went 13.30, good for second in the 100.
From the field events, Sisters Holtkamp (Kaia 4’10, 4th) and Tatum (4’6, 9th) scored in the high jump. Sisters Levin (MaKinley, 16-5½ and Callie, 15’5¾) went second and fifth in the long jump. Abby Felton (93’7) was fifth in discus…with Ellie Holubar (85’4) seventh.
Kayla Young ‘went the distance’, running second in the 3000 (12:23.72) and the 1500 (5:15.54). Annika Kruse was seventh in the 3000 (12:23.72). Ashlynn Williams backed Young with seventh (5:28.30) in the 1500.
Still, even with the cool, wet spring…the girls know what is still expected of them. “It’s a pretty focused group. It hasn’t been a challenge to get them going”, applauds Sands.
Decent Weather? Great Results with ‘Bi-State Win’ in Davenport
That team attitude really showed up with decent weather, as the Lady Spartans posted an impressive win against 15 eastern Iowa and western Illinois foes at Assumption in Davenport. Iowa’s Class 3A runner-up in 2021 stacked up 137 points to outdistance Bettendorf (114), Iowa City West (93), Lisbon (68), Davenport Assumption (62), Clear Creek-Amana (60), Dubuque Hempstead (53), Sterling IL (33), Clinton (30) Rochelle IL (28), Muscatine (15), Orion IL (14), Tipton (13), Davenport North (11), Easton Valley (5) and Iowa City Regina (4).
Wins in three relays, seconds in a couple more, plus a 1-2 punch in the discus helped build a solid team title. Wins in the 4×200 (Duckett, Sophia Stahle, Emma Bock and Aly Stahle, 1:44.87) and 4×400 (O’Neill, Holtkamp, Federspiel and Bock, 4:02.04) relays hit that Blue Standard again. The shuttle hurdle relay (with Aly/Mia/Sophia Stahle and Calla Foster, 1:07.24) was second, but cracked the Drake standard, too.
Sophomore Abigail Felton and freshman Kate Shafer provided the 1-2 punch, with tosses of 89-1 and 88-4 in the discus. Shafer scored from the shot put ring, too, with a 32-0½ flip for fourth place. Points came in all the field events. Kaia Holtkamp’s 4-10 was good for fourth in the high jump. Tatum Holtkamp went 4-6 for 8th. Aly Stahle stretched 16-1½ for third in the long jump. Aisley Foster’s 15’5 ¾ was good for 8th. “Aly’s going over 16 feet for the first time, is impressive”, says Sands. Sophia ‘Stahle, too, is running well in her first year doing the 400 hurdles (second in 1:08.20). She’s a key in the shuttle hurdle, the 4×200 as well.”
With early events underway, their teammates were stacking up relay points, too. In the 800 sprint medley, Mia Duckett, Addie McQuinn, Meghan O’Neill and Gracie Federspiel brought the baton around in 1:53.31 for second place. Next in line were Aly Stahle, Calla Foster, Mia Stahle and Sophie Stahle, with eight more points for second in the shuttle hurdle relay.
Late in the meet, came wins in the 4×200 (Duckett, Sophia Stahle, Emma Bock and Aly Stahle) in 1:44.87…and the 4×400 (O’Neill, Kaia Holtkamp, Federspiel and Bock. Holtkamp, a senior, sees her role and those of her classmates, as role models. We’re a really deep team and, now that I’m a senior I think it’s really my job to be a role model”, is how she sees it. “We want practice to be competitive, to be a comparison to the meets. I think we’ve created a competitive environment. We are super competitive with each other. I think, we are maybe more competitive with each other, than with other schools.”
Addie McQuinn of Solon finishes her handoff to anchor Emma Wolff, April 9 at Assumption. The Solon foursome were third in the event, helping boost the Lady Spartans to the team title