It’s a tale of two cities for the Solon cross country program this season. The girls’ team is returning all but one of their varsity starters whereas the boys’ team will need to replace three of the seven starters from last year.
Emy Williams is entering her 24th season as the head coach for both squads. She is joined by assistant coaches, Brian Fitzpatrick, Michelle Lyons, Emily Moser, Chase Moser, and Katie Courtney.
Both teams are coming off excellent years in the 2023 season. The girls placed second at both the WaMaC conference meet and the state qualifying meet. They took the momentum from those meets into state where they placed eighth. Gone are Mia Duckett, Gracie Federspiel, Bella Jedlicka, Kailee Miller, Anna Quillin, Kate Richards, and Ashlyn Williams.
The girls are bringing back a strong group of runners led by Sydney Dee. Last year Dee received First-Team WaMaC All-Conference honors and placed 18th at the 3A state meet with a time of 19:31. The senior will be eyeing 3A All-State honors this year as she anchors the girls’ team.
The returners behind Dee are seniors Ella Sheeley (Honorable Mention WaMaC All-Conference), and Rose McAtee, sophomores Ava Rolwes, Jillian Janssen, and Falyn Svalstad (Second-Team WaMaC All-Conference).
The strong core will be joined by a talented freshman class. The freshman class won the middle school state championship last year and will be looking to make an instant impact on the varsity team. Williams is excited for the depth they will bring to the team.
The Boys’ team lost some of their top runners last year as Wyatt Applegarth, Colin and Grant Bumsted, Ben Duckett, Tyler Gregory, Brick Kabela, Ethan Melloy, Rhett Mesch, Gabe Nicholson, Mason Pauley, Lawsin Sinnwell, and Michael Yeomans have graduated, but they bring in a solid core to build around. Evan Burg is the only senior returning from the varsity squad last year. Burg finished strong with a 17:13 time at the state meet. The other returning scorer from the state meet is Spencer Michels. The junior was only a few seconds behind Burg at state as he ran a 17:16. These two will look to make improvements on their times last season to anchor this team as the Spartans attempt to make their fifth straight appearance at the state meet.
Juniors Camden Lyons and Rene Meza are the only other returners from the varsity squad last season. They were the sixth and seventh runners for the Spartans at the state meet and will look to use that experience to help guide the younger team to state.
Williams believes the WaMaC conference will be very competitive yet again for both the girls and boys. She is excited to build on the past seasons results.
The season opens next Saturday with Anamosa’s invitational varsity meet, which starts at 9:00 a.m. at the Anamosa Middle School, 410 Old Dubuque Road.