ANAMOSA — Solon’s cross country teams kicked off their seasons in Anamosa Saturday August 31 with a couple podium finishes. Solon’s girls, ranked 5th in class 3A, edged out #17 Washington 60-55 to take the team title while the boys were third (82 points) behind Anamosa (79) and champion Cedar Rapids Kennedy (29) ranked 11th in class 4A.
Senior Sydney Dee and freshman Kinley Mai each ran 21:16.8 with Dee being declared the third place finisher and Mai 4th in the girls race. Sophomore Ava Rowles (14th) and senior Ella Sheeley (16th) were the next pair of Spartans to finish. Sophomore Falyn Svalstad round out the scoring with a 20th place finish followed closely by Livya Nelson (Fr.) in 21st. Senior Rose McAtee was Solon’s final varsity finisher placing 25th.
Mai’s strategy was simple yet brilliant, let Dee do the pacing and hold on as long as possible. “I wanted to see how long I could stick with her, but I did expect to be with her that long”. When asked about the course and the adjustment to 5000 meters from 3200 meter in junior high Mai stated, “It was fun, a little bit muddy but. It definitely felt longer, but it didn’t make much of a difference.”
Dee stated the cool temperatures were nice, but the bright morning sunshine combined with a good stretch of pure mud and water on the course did make for tough early season conditions. She added, “I’m very excited for our team this year, we are very strong and this meet showed we each have things to work on but we will only get better from here”.
Junior Spencer Michels did not disappoint on the boys side. After a measured start Michels started moving up in the pack late in the first mile and finished third with an 18:00 clocking. ”I was hoping to run a lot faster, but with the muddy course and dead legs, it wasn’t going to be a fast day,” Michaels stated.
With the loss of five seniors that powered the boys team to four straight State Championship appearances and two top-five finishes, this year’s version has been completely retooled around Michaels and senior Evan Burg. Burg stopped mid race to retrieve a shoe lost in the mud, but still finished 26th as the Spartans 5th runner.
Finishing between the two veterans were varsity newcomers freshman Anders Holmes in 12th place, junior Rene Meza (18th) and freshman Deacon Waddell (25th).
Michaels was pleased with his teammates. “I think the team already is looking better than we thought we’d be and I’m expecting great things by the end of the year”.
Junior Camden Lyons and freshman Preston Raasch, nailed down varsity spots for the next meet as Solon’s 6th and 7th runners finishing 26th and 28th overall.
Both teams competed at the Kicker’s soccer complex in Iowa City at the Bob Brown Invitational September 5 and continue their season at the Iowa State University cross country course September 12.