ANAMOSA — Solon grabbed seven of the top 20 girls places for a strong win in the first cross country meet of the year. The boys pushed three runners into the top 11 for third place in their season kickoff. The August 27 meet in Anamosa used an ‘everybody runs varsity’ format scoring the five highest finishes from each school.
Senior Kayla Young was the overall girls winner. Junior Brick Kabela was sixth through the finish chute for the boys. “It was a really great meet. The first meet is always good to see where you’re at (and) shake out those first meet nerves,” reviewed Solon head coach Emy Williams. “And for Kayla to come out and win? She really had a great race!”
Young was fifth here a year ago but took the lead just after the starting line and held on. Solon totaled just 39 points, undercutting Washington with 67. Young’s 19:45 finish was more than a minute faster than on the same course to open 2021. It was also about 20 seconds faster than a mid-season meet last year. “I’ve been putting in a lot of work,” explained Young. “Having track season and all the experience from last year in cross country have really helped me grow as a runner.”
Anna Quillin and Mary Fiala each stood out, too. “They just looked good over the entire race,” applauded Williams. Fiala was fifth in the 137-girl field at 21:05. Quillin was close behind in seventh at 21.22. Gracie Federspiel was 11th at 21:55 with Lydia Hogan at 22:17 in the 15th spot. Backing them were Sydney Dee (22:30, 16th) and Mara Düster (22:35, 19th) to pad the winning margin. Early now in the season, Quillin, a junior, is ranked 12th in the Coaches IATC poll in 3A. Düster holds the 28 spot in the coaches’ top 30.
The team scores. After Solon’s winner’s share at 39 points, Washington was good for the girls runner-up slot with 67. Following were Cedar Rapids Kennedy (101), Union (125), and Cedar Rapids Xavier (132) in fifth. From there, it went Cascade (136), host Anamosa (175), Muscatine (183), Waterloo West (265), and two teams without full five runner teams.
On the boys side junior Brick Kabela came through.
“The course was soft in some spots–I could feel my shoes sinking in–but overall, it was pretty good” said Kabela. “We were spread out, our one through six runners, throughout the race. Then three of us sort of clumped together for the last half mile.”
The junior, ranked sixth in Class 3A by IATC coaches, finished the five kilometers sixth overall out of 164 runners in 17:33 with a 5:39 mile. Kennedy’s Miles Wilson, rated in the top 15 statewide in IATC 4A rankings, won in 16:15. Kabela led juniors Mike Yeomans (7th, 17:35), 26th ranked Grant Bumsted (19th, 18:46), sophomore Evan Burg (28th, 19:20) and junior Mason Pauley (37th, 20:03) to cover the Spartan scoring slots.
In the boys team scores, Class 4A Cedar Rapids Kennedy posted a meet low 25 points for the title. Washington’s 75 were good for runner up. After Solon’s 84, it went Anamosa (113), Bellevue (118), Cascade (126), Muscatine (179), Cedar Rapids Xavier (229), Maquoketa (289), Union (300), and Waterloo Christian (330).
This week, the Spartans and Lady Spartans turn it loose on the hilly Bob Brown Invitational course in Iowa City on Thursday.
Brick Kabela steers toward a turn in the last half mile of the boys race, August 27 in Anamosa Invitational season opener cross country meet. Kabela, tabbed sixth by the Iowa Association of Track Coaches preseason rankings, finished sixth here, helping the boys to a third place in a mixed field of 1A, 2A, 3A and 4A schools.