It is the home stretch for the 2022 high school track and field season. Solon’s Lady Spartans have already run away with the 2022 WaMaC Super Conference title. After doubling the score on the runner-up there, they now roll into the May 12 state qualifier with great expectations for the State Meet, May 19-21 in Des Moines.
As Solon heads to Benton Community, in Van Horne, for their Class 3A qualifier, they hold the fastest times of the eight schools there in all seven relay events. The team also sits atop seven of the 12 individual events and has potential qualifiers in the remaining events.
There is a catch, however. An athlete cannot participate in more than four events in a meet. A few of those top qualifiers might show up in more events in the rankings having run, thrown or jumped in different meets. Coaches must also weigh how much recovery time a girl may have in a meet, between two or more events, and even between preliminaries and finals at State.
Still? Not a bad problem to have. “The lineup will change this week. (At Conference) it was about scoring points, not yet getting girls through to State”, outlines Solon head coach Brent Sands. “(We will look for) girls that we can score with at the State meet. It’s who we are fairly confident with. What can they do? There are also a couple alternate spots to take a look at.” Alternates on a team’s relay card for the state qualifier remain through the State Meet seven to nine days later.
WaMaC Champs Double Up on Competition
With wins in 11 events at the WaMaC Super Conference meet, May 12, Solon’s girls ran away with another title. Their 180 points built a huge gap over runner-up Williamsburg (90). From there, it dropped to Mount Vernon in third place (83), followed by Clear Creek-Amana (76), Center Point-Urbana (72), South Tama (54), Marion (44), Independence (38), Benton (38), Maquoketa (24), Vinton-Shellsburg (24), West Delaware (20) and Dyersville Beckman (6).
Solon won the first three events to jump to an early 30-point stake in the scoring. Mia Stahle, MaKinley Levin, Sophia Stahle and Emma Bock broke a WaMaC record with 1:50.27 in the sprint (800m) medley relay. Kayla Young’s 10:59 was first in the 3000 with Ashlyn Williams seventh, in 11:56.38. Gracie Federspiel, Grace Hoeper, Anna Quillin and Kaia Holtkamp teamed up for a 9:51.98 4X800 meter relay. Jada Buffington, Mia Stahle, Calla Foster and Sophia Stahle put up 1:08.32 for second place in the shuttle hurdle relay. In the 100, Aly Stahle’s 12.88 was first. Teammate Addie McQuinn added an eighth place point with 14.04.
In the distance (1600m) medley relay, Kayla Young anchored a 4:32.11 third place finish; with the earlier carries courtesy of Mia Stahle, Mia Duckett, Kerrigan Lyons and Young. For Duckett, it’s a step up, compared to a painful freshman year. “Last year, I had a lot of shin issues. This year, that’s all gone, so it has been really fun just being able to run and not have to worry about things like that.” Bock (58.26) and Federspiel (59.07) continued the points parade with a 1-2 400 meter finish.
And knowing the lineup is pretty solid, really fills the bill—particularly, with her specialty; 100s and 200s. “I really like it. With the relays, everybody is working together and having fun. We rely on each other. We have a some really good freshmen this year, too. A lot of people have really stepped up their game.” Duckett, running with MaK and Callie Levin. and one of those freshmen, Aly Stahle, put up a 1:46.84 finish at WaMaC to take the 4×200 title. Stahle (at 25.98) also got the win in the open 200.
Sophia Stahle (16.04) and Calla Foster (17.14) went third and eighth in the 100 hurdles. Sophia (1:05.77) came back with second place in the 400 hurdles, with Mia Stahle fifth at 1:10.33. Williams (5:23.96) and Anna Quillin (5:24.05) went seventh and eighth in the 1500, growing the Lady Spartans point total. Kaia Holtkamp (2:21.68) sailed to the 800 win. At 2:36.12, Hoeper took seventh.
The meet closed with a pair of relay firsts. MaK Levin, Aly Stahle, Duckett and Emma Wolff outran the field with a 49.66 4×100 win; Solon’s second WaMaC record for the night. Next up, Callie Levin led off the 4×400, with Holtkamp, Federspiel and Bock each getting a carry, on the way to a 4:04.80 finish
Field events? Solon double-scored in each. In the high jump, Lilly Towne went out after 4’8, grabbing fifth place. A tie at the top meant a jump-off between Holtkamp and Emma Hartwick of South Tama. Each had the same number of misses on the way to clearing 5’0, then going out (three misses) at the next height. That meant a single attempt, again at 5’0, and then dropping by an inch, as the bar went down. Holtkamp cleared 4’11, Hartwick did not; so, Holtkamp’s 5’0 held as the winner. And you wondered how ties were settled, in the high jump!
In the long jump, MaKinley Levin (16’4¾) was good for second place. Sister Callie locked in fourth, with her 15-4¼. In the throws, Abigail Felton was fifth (104’6) in the discus. Ellie Holubar (102’6) was good for sixth place. Holubar earlier took seventh in the shot put (33’8½) Leah Kollar was one spot back, (33’4¾).
With WaMaC’s Junior Varsity conference meet, on Monday, coaches got a last look at some of the adjustments and alternates they identified…putting it all together this week for a potential trip to State.
Solon high jumper Kaia Holtkamp goes up and over the high jump bar, at WaMaC super conference meet, May 4. Holtkamp jumped to a first place tie…then took the win outright, winning a ‘jump off.’