ANAMOSA — Solon’s cross country teams had a tough challenge ahead at the cross country course around Anamosa Middle School. The course that was laid out in front of the boys’ and girls’ teams was daunting. It was full of tight turns, side hills, and rolling hills. The start did not make it any easier for runners to run quick times. The wide starting line quickly bottlenecked to a trail about six feet wide. A strong start was essential for a good race, a task that proved insurmountable for the Solon teams.
The Lady Spartans were able to bounce back from the slower start, but not enough to get the win. Fort Madison – ranked 11th in 3A – used tight, pack running to pull off the upset victory. Fort Madison edged out the Lady Spartans by a two-point margin.
“We can turn this into a positive and make us hungry again,” said Solon cross country head coach Emy Williams, “We know that every meet we’ve got to be ready to come and compete.”
Senior Sydney Dee ran about 30 seconds slower than she did at the home meet last Monday, but she still held her position near the top. Dee’s time was 20:11 and was good enough for fourth place.
Freshman Kinley Mai took her usual spot a few places behind the senior. Mai placed sixth with a 20:32. Mai helped give the Lady Spartans a chance to win, but the wave of four Fort Madison runners crossed the finish line before the Lady Spartans third runner, Addison Seamans.
“Just realizing and figuring out where we’re at with our pack and who we need to pop in to break up that pack is going to be our focus next time we see them,” said Williams.
The boys’ team continued to test their depth. Evan Burg was unable to race, which forced the Spartans to try and make up for the loss of another top runner so far this year. Freshman Anders Holmes stepped up and placed sixth for the Spartans running a 17:48.
Holmes was one of three freshmen in their top four runners. He was joined by Deacon Waddell and Preston Raasch who placed 38th and 39th.
“I think we’re learning,” said Williams, “We’ve got three freshmen in our top five and that’s a good learning experience for them.”
Middle School Victories
The future of the cross country programs continue to look promising as both middle school teams placed first, in a dominating way.
The girls placed their four scorers in the top seven. All four are eighth graders and they were led by Mailee Schmidt. She placed second in the two-mile race with a time of 12:38. Nora Sanderson, Stella Beck, and Kali Poe followed Schmidt, crossing the finish line about a minute later.
The boys also placed their four scorers in the top seven. They were led by Macklin Svalstad, the winner of the boys’ middle school two-mile race. Svalstad ran 11:03 on the way to the victory. Brooks Kabela was the next runner in as he placed third. Declan Doyle and Jaimyn Lang secured the victory for the middle school Spartans as they placed seventh and eighth.