WAVERLY — With 1800 runners on the course over eight races in Waverly and with over twice that many fans, coaches and onlookers, the combined Steve Johnson (high school) and Dan Huston (college) cross country races Saturday, October 1, outdrew the Wartburg college football game a block away.
High schools from Minnesota (Twin Cities area, Rochester), southeast Wisconsin and all across Iowa—(Sioux City, Des Moines, Dubuque, the Quad Cities, Solon and elsewhere) crammed into the starting boxes. “It’s probably bigger than our state meet,” agrees Solon Coach Emy Williams. “The number of teams, the number of high quality teams. There were a lot of Class 4A sized schools there. It’s like you are going to see different competition, as they all compete in one large field of runners.”
And with the season’s last few meets just ahead, several Solon runners notched their fastest time of the year, coming through the finish line in Waverly. Among the season bests, was Kayla Young’s tour of the course. The senior has been the girls’ top runner the last couple seasons. Her 18:41 Saturday was her best yet…breaking the school record (19:15), over five kilometers…and securing a top 10 spot among the finishers.
Elsewhere in the ‘All Star’ environment, the Lady Spartans were eighth (251 points) in a 22 school field, just ahead of Mount Vernon-Lisbon (258) and Linn-Mar (260)—and trailing seven 4A sized teams from three states. Dubuque Hempstead (83) was the overall Gray Division winner.
Besides Young—in tenth place–teammates Gracie Federspiel (20:22), Sydney Dee (20:29) and Mary Fiala (20:22) came across 56-57-58 for the Lady Spartans…in a 200-plus runner field. Addison Dorenkamp, from Valley-West Des Moines, posted a 17:40 over the mostly flat (a few mild inclines) course for the individual title. Megan Lee of Bloomington-Jefferson was runner-up at 17:47. “Sydney Dee had her season bests,” noted Williams. “Ashlyn (Williams), too. She was at 20:55 coming across the line…just after those three.” Mara Duster was next across for the Lady Spartans (21:14), with Ella Sheeley (21:38), Sophia Stahle (21:54), Kerrigan Lyons (22:36) and Grace Fiala (23:13) rounding out the varsity finishes.
In the JV race, Mia Duckett (22:34) was first across for Solon’s top four, in a field of 200 girls. Next over the finish strip was Delaney DeWild (23:06)….then Kate Richards (24:29) and Addison Burden (25:01).
Solon’s boys were 13th of 25 schools (413 points) in the Gray Division…larger schools across the three states. Norwalk (95 points), Johnston (136), Cedar Falls (158) went 1-2-3. Waukee Northwest (165), Bloomington-Jefferson, Minnesota (171) and Valley of West Des Moines (175) were next in line. Brick Kabela was first across for the Spartans (16:35, 42nd). Next through for Solon? Michael Yeomans (16:59, 68th) and Lawsin Sinwell (17:42, 123rd)
In the JV matchups, Nate Shafer (19:24) was 84th, first across among over 400 on that starting line. Ben Duckett (19:35) was 94th in a massive field. Spencer Michels (19:54), Hayden Henneberry at 20:00 came through next…with Camden Lyons just behind, for the top five finishes among the Spartans’ 20 junior varsity entries.
Next up for Solon, Saturday, is the often frigid, icy, snow-dusted North Linn Invite. This year, though, it looks like autumn, will continue with ‘autumn-like’ conditions.
Progress measured in effort, not just the finish
Sometimes, a runner’s progress is gauged by ‘effort’ not the time on the clock. A big example of that comes each meet, as Ian Ressler leaves the starting line. “Ian is our most improved runner, two years in a row,” applauds Williams. “Since the beginning of the season, he cut his time by ten minutes! He came out for cross country as a freshman, had to learn how to run a 5K, how to push his body. He shows that the beauty of cross country is not being fastest or slowest…but seeing yourself get better.” Ressler’s time has dropped from 34 minutes two seasons ago, to 21:28 in the last meet.
Gracie Federspiel and Sydney Dee match strides early in the girls varsity 5K at Waverly, Saturday October 1. A few strides back is Ashlyn Williams.