BALLARD — For a couple hours last week, the Ballard golf course was perhaps the second largest community in Story County. Ames, of course, led the way. However, with over 1,140 runners and a couple thousand parents, siblings, friends and other fans shuttled by bus for the 42nd Mike Carr Cross Country Classic, it left little room for doubt.
This time, Solon’s third ranked Class 3A girls felt the ‘other side’ of a tie score. After edging Monticello a couple weeks ago in a tie breaker for the championship in the Bob Brown/Regina meet, the pendulum swung back at Ballard. The Lady Spartans and Gilbert, ranked sixth in 3A, ended the five kilometer Girls ‘B’ division race tied at the top with 62 points as determined by the places of their top five finishers.
A tie is settled by the sixth runner. Gilbert’s was 27th across the line for the title. Solon’s was 32nd. Ironically, there was also a tie (at 103 points) between third and fourth places as Des Moines Christian edged Atlantic with the ‘better sixth’ runner. 11 schools competed in the varsity B division with 75 girls in the hunt.
Many spectators were confused with two ‘divisions’ of boys and girls varsity runners. Each race started from an adjacent but separate starting grid. At the starter’s gun, they merged onto the same course, ending eventually at the common finish line. There, the scoring computer read each runner’s electronic chip and sorted him or her by place and division.
Young Leads Girls Finish
Solon’s Kayla Young (rated sixth last week in Class 3A-) crossed third overall among all varsity girls but was recognized as first in the smaller ‘B’ division. As a team, Solon showed up fourth in the overall scorecard, but after the B division breakdown, settled for second. Over in the A division, host Ballard (with 62 points) posted the win over Pella (70) in their 11 team contest.
Backing Young were teammates Mary Fiala (7th, 20:44), Anna Quillin (14th, 21:17), Gracie Federspiel (11th, 21:18), Ashlyn Williams (28th, 22:03), Lydia Hogan (32nd, 32:26), and Mara Düster (22:52). Fiala was ranked 29th statewide last week.
In the combined girls JV race, with 169 runners, Solon’s Sydney Dee emerged in first place, running 21:51 followed by Sophia Stahle (ninth, 22:46), Kerrigan Lyons (12th, 22:44), Delaney DeWild (18th, 23:06), and Mia Duckett (22nd, 23:31). As a team, Solon’s JV (62 points) was second, again to Pella (45), in their division.
Boys Third in Their Ballard Run
On the boys’ side, the 15th -ranked (class 3A) Spartans were tenth overall, but third in this day’s B division with 80 points. Class 2A second ranked Des Moines Christian won the Boys B title, behind medalist Jake Fynaardt’s 15:59 run, in a race with runners from 12 schools pounding the turf.
Brick Kabela was first across and fifth overall at 16:58 for Solon followed by Mike Yeomans (9th, 17:29), Grant Bumsted (17th, 18:24), Lawson Sinwell (22nd, 18:37), Collin Bumsted (27th, 19:02), Mason Pauley (38th, 19:48), and Mason Schadler (44th, 20:16).
Backing them in the JV run were Evan Burg (18th, 19:49), Ben Duckett (27th, 19:19), Tristan Freeman (32nd, 19:29), Owen Young (42nd, 19:52), and Nate Shafer (45th, 20:00).
Following this past Monday’s Solon Invitational, both teams return to Anamosa Saturday, sept. 24 as they host a second coed meet. Next week, it will be Williamsburg (September 27) on the calendar.
Solon runners Gracie Federspiel and Anna Quillin work their way up in the pack in the first mile of the Ballard Invitational cross country meet, September 12. More than 1000 runners were on the course through the half dozen races held.