CEDAR RAPIDS — The City High Little Hawks, with eight Solon student athletes in their ranks, took seventh in Cedar Rapids Kennedy’s 2023 girls Cougar varsity Invitational meet Saturday, Sept. 25.
Johnston won the meet with 499 team points followed by Iowa City West High/Liberty High (399), Pleasant Valley (364.5), the host Cougars (327), Southeast Polk (266), Linn-Mar (227), the Little Hawks (105.5), Cedar Rapids Jefferson (82), Decorah (33), and Des Moines Roosevelt (22).
City High was missing Solon standout Grace Hoeper, but Coach Mandi Kowal said her team rose to the challenge. “We missed Grace, but the kids swam tough. (We did) pretty good considering what time of year it is (middle of the regular season), and it’s Homecoming Week (for City High).”
Solon’s Avery Mann had the best individual finish for the Little Hawks with her 14th place showing in the 500-yard freestyle (5:59.64). Mann was 16th in the 200-yard freestyle (2:16.82). Tatum Holtkamp was 16th in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:22.55) and 24th in the 50-yard freestyle (29.24). Madelyn Elkins took 17th in the 50 freestyle (28.33) and Ella Vernon was 19th in the 200 freestyle (2:21.62).
Elkins led off in the seventh-place 200 freestyle relay with City’s Margalit Frank, Saoirse Miller, and Elsa Farber (1:50.08) and the 13th-place 400 freestyle with City’s Celeste Miller, Ellie Galloway, and Saoirse Miller (4:17.35), and anchored the 14th-place 200 medley relay with Galloway, Holtkamp, and Mann (2:11.18). Holtkamp swam the second leg of the 14th-place 200 freestyle with City’s Kalea Seaton, Galloway, and Eliza Mitchell (1:56.42) while Mann had the third leg of the ninth place 400 freestyle relay with Farber, Seaton, and Frank (4:09.56).
Coach Kowal commented on the season thus far, and on what lies ahead for the Little Hawks saying, “So far this season I’ve been pleased with their efforts and energy. The group is special, supportive and a fun team to work with. Our Solon athletes are a huge part of that. We’ve got a great training block coming up and I’m excited to see what we can get done. And we want to make sure in these six weeks we make the best of it for our seniors. We have two more dual races and then the championship season is upon us. The weeks leading into these races will define how we race in the championship. Can’t wait!”