MANCHESTER — The Solon cross country teams travelled to Manchester for the boys’ and girls’ state qualifying meets Wednesday October 22. The No.10 ranked Lady Spartans grabbed a spot in Fort Dodge with a second place finish in the toughest of the five qualifying locations (three teams ranked in the top ten of Class 3A). It’s the ninth trip in ten years to the state meet for Head Coach Emy Williams’ Lady Spartans.
“The girls came ready to compete, they did their jobs and beat a couple ranked teams including No. 6 Decorah,” Willams said.
The Spartans missed qualifying with a fifth place team finish but will send senior Spencer Michels to compete after a he posted a season best 17:07 clocking. Michels finished 15th and grabbed the final individual qualifying spot. He was 17th with 400 meters to go in the race.
“The boys have overcome a lot of adversity this year. I was really proud of how they never gave up all season and worked hard to get back to where they were at the beginning of the year,” Williams said. “Running at State is a great way for Spencer to finish his senior year.”
Junior Falyn Svalstad led the Lady Spartans, as she has through most of the season, with an eighth place finish. Sophomore Addison Seamans’ personal best put her in ninth and right on Svalstad’s shoulder with both runners finishing in 19:38. Sophomore Livya Nelson ran a season best 19:56 for 13th and freshman Mailee Schmidt in 14th with a personal best 20 minutes flat time.
Sophomore Quinn Armentrout and freshman Stella Beck have steadily inched closer to the top four runners late in the season and did so again with each clocking personal bests. The pair hit the finish line with both running 21:09 for 28th and 29th. Armentrout edged Beck by .01 of a second in the official results. Junior Ava Rowles also heads to Ft. Dodge after a 47th place finish in 21:55.
Michels returns to Fort Dodge after a year hiatus. He competed in 2023 with the seventh place overall Spartan team clocking 17:16 and finishing 75th individually. The senior missed most of last season with an injury after helping set Solon’s 4×800 meter relay record the previous spring when the Spartans finished third in the event at the 2024 State Track Meet.
Senior Rene Meza ran a personal best 17:13 in Manchester placing 19th and missing a state meet spot by only six seconds. Sophomore Anders Holmes ran third for the Spartans, clocking 17:52 good for 31st. Sophomore Deacon Waddell placed 38th in 18:05 and senior Owen Young ran a personal best 18:24 to place 43rd.
The top three teams and 15 individuals head to Fort Dodge for State competition.
Mt. Vernon won both the girls’ and boys’ team titles. Class 3A girls run at 2:00 p.m. tomorrow, Friday, October 31, with the boys following at 2:45.