TIPTON — The Lady Spartans claimed five of the first nine spots at the finish line on the way to the meet title at the Tipton Invitational cross country meet Thursday, September 7. Their 3-4-5-7-9 finish from their top five runners led to a 28-point total (four better than Tipton in a varsity race featuring five schools. Within the hour, Solon’s boys went 1-4-6-8-12 with their scoring five to rack up a low total of 31 points, undercutting Central DeWitt’s 37 for the title in their seven-team race. In cross country, the ‘low score’ of a team’s first five runners gets the higher place.
Tipton has a ‘rolling’ course, with several trips (and a couple tight turns) on and around the slopes on the east side of the park. “We handled the hills okay. I think our runners really used the downhills,” recalled Williams. “That’s something we talk about ahead of time; kind-of focusing on that to get some speed back after coming up the hill.”
Running with the pack
key to girls’ win
Anna Quillin was Solon’s top runner, the senior hitting the girls’ finish line in 21:37 over the five kilometers. “We had six girls within about a minute of each other,” emphasized Solon Coach Emy Williams. “We ran as a pack. We had a group of two, a group of three, and another group of three close behind. That was really what we talked about before the race, finding somebody to run with and then ‘pack it up’ so they could move forward.”
In the team finish, junior Sydney Dee was second across (21:46) for the Lady Spartans and fourth overall. Senior Grace Federspiel was next through the chute in 22:08. Ava Rolwes followed with the freshman posting 22:16 for her seventh-place tour of the hilly, winding Tipton City Park course. Williams also pointed to Ella Sheeley’s standout performance. “Ella really had a great race. Her 22:23 was a top-five finish for us where she hadn’t been yet this season. She just looked really strong during the race.” Freshman Falyn Svalstad (22:43) and junior Rose McAtee (23:12) crossed 13th and 15th for extra security.
JV shows up too!
An added boost? Solon’s JV girls packed Jillian Jansen, Mia Duckett and Mya Fordice into the 2-3-4 spots in their race to help squeeze out a 27-28 win over Tipton in a 28-girl field (in the same race but with separate scoring).
Kabela paces varsity boys
to team title
Brick Kabela was the overall boys’ winner in 17:01.30. Likewise, the guys kept within range of each other. “They did a great job,” assessed Williams. “And it really mattered because we had Central DeWitt right there with us. That pushed a few more into top-20 finishes.”
Michael Yeomans was fourth into the chute for the Spartans (17:56.30). Lawsin Sinnwell tacked down sixth (18:02.30), with Collin Bumsted eighth (18:06.40). Evan Burg was 12th (18:31.30). “Collin and Evan had great races as our ‘4-5’ runners. They just really stepped up and ran strong. Spencer Michels locked in the 15th spot (18:35.80),” applauded Williams.
IATC rankings reward
Solon’s hard work
Heading into last weekend, the Iowa Association of Track Coaches ranked Kabela ninth in its weekly list of 30 3A runners. On the girls’ side, Dee showed up as 28th among IATC balloting. In the team poll, Solon’s boys showed up ninth in the 3A poll of top 20 teams. The Lady Spartans entered the week seventh. This week began with both teams on the course in Huxley against Ballard and several top central Iowa schools they may not see for the rest of the regular season (see separate story).
In this week’s ratings (coming out Monday, Sept. 11) Anna Quillin is ranked 27{sup}th{/sup} in 3A. On the boys’ side, and still showing last week’s voting, Brick Kabela is spotted 9{sup}th{/sup} in 3A. In team rankings, Solon’s girls are still seventh, and the boys are still ninth.
Varsity boys team scores
at Tipton
1 Solon 31
2 Central DeWitt 37
3 Tipton 64
4 Louisa-Muscatine 128
5 North Cedar Stanwood 152
6 Durant 163
7 West Liberty 186
Varsity girls team scores
at Tipton (1st-5th)
1 Solon 28
2 Tipton 32
3 Central DeWitt 82
4 Louisa-Muscatine 132
5 Durant 138
Note: Full results are available online at https://ia.milesplit.com/meets/569061-tipton-invitational-2023/results
Coach Williams to be
honored at State XC
Coach Emy Williams has been selected to receive the Golden Plaque Award for distinguished coaching in the sport of cross country, according to Solon Activities Director Casey Hack. Williams will be the 11th coach to receive this award at the 2023 State Meet.
Solon Middle School runners
also compete in Tipton
The Tipton Invitational also included 3,200-meter jr. high (middle school) races with Solon’s Mac Svalstad winning the boys race in 8:19.2. Anders Holmes and Brooks Kabela were fourth and fifth in 8:47.2 and 9:01.6, Preston Raasch was 16th (9:29.9), Deacon Waddell was 18th (9:35.1), Caden Brock was 28th (10:45.8), and Will McAtee took 31st in 10:52.5. Sam Ekroth and Ian Strandberg were 49th and 50th in 13:46.8 and 14:00.00.
Solon’s middle school girls took 2nd through 13th place led by Quinn Armentrout (2nd, 9:36.1). Kinley Mai was 3rd (9:49.1), Livya Nelson was 4th (9:51.3), Kenley Murken was 5th (10:07.4), Addison Seamans took 6th (10:12.3), Kali Poe was 7th (10:17.9), Beckitt Kabela was 8th (10:20.2), Kennedy Dennison was 9th (10:25.5), Nora Sanderson was 10th (10:29.1), Elynn Hemann was 11th (10:32.9), Keatyn Schnoor was 12th (10:36.7), and Katherine Rolwes was 13th (10:45.6). Vivi Schmooke was 16th (11:20.5), Sydney Kunkel took 20th (11:40.9), Caidence Macke, Madelyn McCandless, and Sophia McGonagill were 24th-26th in 12:19.8, 12:24.5, and 12:30.3 while Alli Kallaus was 29th in 12:51.0. Raelynn Hamer (31st, 13:10.8), Isabelle Novak (34th, 13:46.0), Ruby Rochholz (35th, 13:48.9). Peyton Gordon (39th, 14:26.4), Zoee Netolicky (41st, 15:07.9), Jadlyn Huynh (42nd, 15:20.6), and Peyton Netolicky (48th, 19:38.7) rounded out the Lady Spartans.
Upcoming events
The home meet for middle school and high school will be Monday, Sept. 18 at the Solon Nature and Recreation Area (SNRA) with the middle school races starting at 4:30 p.m. and high school meets following at 5:00 p.m.
Middle school and high school runners will compete Saturday, Sept. 23 at the Anamosa Middle School (410 Old Dubuque Road, Anamosa) starting at 9:00 a.m. and travel to Williamsburg Tuesday, Sept. 26.
Quinn Armentrout was the first Solon girl across the finish line (in 2nd place overall) Thursday, Sept. 7 in the Tipton Invitational. The eighth grader covered the 3,200-meter course in 9:36.1.