DES MOINES — Placing in 13 of 19 events, and winning three of them, made it truly a team effort as the Solon Lady Spartans brought home the title plaque from the 2023 Class 3A Track and Field meet held May 18-20 at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.
The team title makes it back to back championships for the Lady Spartans. Besides the 2022 victory, they also were champs in 2010.
Solon racked up 79 points, outdistancing ADM/Adel and it’s 62. Pella (42 points) was third followed by Dubuque Wahlert (41). Mount Vernon (34) and Des Moines Hoover (34) tied for fourth. From there it was Clear Lake (31), Carroll (27), Ballard (26), and Atlantic (25) rounding out the top-10 Class 3A schools.
Gracie Federspiel was atop the midfield awards podium twice, first with teammates Mia Stahle, Piper Stahle and Anna Quillin after their victory (clocking 4:08.79) in the 1600 meter medley relay, and then as she won the 800 (in 2:12.97). “I knew at the 400. I felt like ‘I could do it. I could go,’ and then this last one, my legs weren’t as tired as they normally are. I’m just so grateful that I had that kick,” recalled Federspiel. “For me, it was a really big mental thing; just believing in myself. That helped, growing my confidence and learning who I am. Not worrying about winning or losing, but just having fun with this.”
That attitude spread throughout the season. “TEAM” was a big thing. “The girls never settled all year long,” emphasized head coach Jess Brimeyer. “They progressed meet after meet. They made up their minds they were going to win this meet. They were feeding off each other’s energy.”
This year’s ‘run to the top’ began Thursday with a second place finish (and its eight points) in the 4×800 meter relay. Anna Quillin, Grace Hoeper, Ashlyn Williams and Gracie Federspiel brought the baton across in 9:39.11. In the 3000, Kayla Young was good for eighth place with her 10:52.26 eight-lap tour of the track. Aly Stahle’s preliminary 200 meters time got her to the Friday finals, where she finished third in 25.58.
“We obviously did some reshuffling after the state qualifier (the week prior). Because of the schedule of events at State, predicting what other teams would do, where we could score the most points,” noted Brimeyer. “It was kind of a gamble, but it worked out really well. When it came down to it, it was a complete team effort.”
The scoring continued through the week/weekend. Other wins for the Lady Spartans came from Federspiel, again, in the 400 (third place in 57.28), third as well in the 4×200 relay with Mia Duckett, Mia Stahle, Aly Stahle and Piper Stahle rounding the two laps in 143.85. Duckett led off the sprint medley too with Emma Wolff, Aly and Sophia Stahle toting the baton with eight more team points, and second place medals the result. And Duckett came out of the blocks in the 4×100 for another team point as she, Wolff, Piper Stahle, and Aisley Foster qualified for the finals, and then ran a 50.40 good for eighth place. From the field, Kate Shafer had another personal best toss in the discus, 122’7, for seventh place.
Sophia Stahle captured a first place flag with her 1:04.27 lap around the track in the 400 hurdles. “The girls in lanes three and five (Stahle was in four) were closing in on me, so I thought, if I want it, I need to go right now and get it. In the last 100 meters, what I really tried to do with the last three hurdles was just full out sprint and jump! I just had to go!”
Stahle had a busy weekend. She finished sixth in the 100 hurdles (15.04). She also ran on the shuttle hurdle relay with Mia Stahle, Calla Foster and Aly Stahle setting a school record and a grabbing a second place State finish (1:05.79).
Points were falling Solon’s way. Still, the team title was not in their grasp until about 2:25 p.m. Saturday afternoon as the 1,500 approached. Parents’ and fans’ cell phones began lighting up, spreading word that ADM, the only team still with a chance, could not overtake Solon through the three events remaining.
The public celebration, of course, was on hold for another couple hours. By evening, the fire truck-led parade through Solon on their return, let the town know that something special had happened, again.

Gallery • 4 Photos

Joe Wilkinson

Aly Stahle comes out of the blocks in her preliminary 200 meters heat last week at the State Girls track meet in Des Moines. She advanced with a 25.67 clocking, dropping it to 25.38 in the finals, and finishing third in the Class 3A field.