FORT DODGE — The Solon Spartans capped off their season in Fort Dodge competing at the Iowa Class 3A state championship meet. The Spartan girls placed sixth out of 15 teams, led by a strong 17th overall finish from Falyn Svalstad (JR). For the boys, Spencer Michels (SR) was the lone Solon representative placing 59th overall.
After placing second at both the WaMaC Conference Championship meet and the state qualifying meet, the Spartan girls looked to wrap up a successful championship season with a strong performance at state.
Svalstad crossed the finish line in 19:11 following an impressive final mile, where she passed 12 runners to move from 29th place to 17th place. Rounding out the top five for Solon was Addison Seamans (SO) who came in 51st, Mailee Schmidt (FR) in 59th, Liv Nelson (SO) in 76th, and Quinn Armentrout (SO) in 87th.
It’s not often you have a team placing sixth at state with four underclassmen scoring for them, proving that the future is glowing for the Solon girls.
59th place for senior Spencer Michels
While the boys failed to qualify for the state meet as a team, Michels earned individual qualification. The top 15 runners at each state qualifying meet earn a spot, and Michels placed 15th to earn the last bid.
Michels’s final race of his Spartan career was gutsy. After finding himself in 77th overall one mile into the race, Michels picked off 15 runners in the second mile to climb into 62nd. Over the final 1.1 miles he capped off his push by moving up three more spots before crossing the finish line with a time of 17:09.
It’s not easy to compete in a race of this magnitude without having any teammates toeing the start-line with you, but Michels never quit. The senior represented Solon in front of the entire state with a gritty performance to be proud of.
Just like the girls, the Solon boys have plenty of young talent, with three of their top seven at the state qualifying meet being underclassmen. Anders Holmes (SO), Deacon Waddell (SO), and Brooks Cabela (FR) all ran as a part of Solon’s top seven at the state qualifiers and will return next year hungry for a shot at the state meet. They’ll look to fill the shoes of seniors like Michels and Rene Meza, who made a huge impact on the team’s success on the course this season.
All seven of the Solon girls that competed at state will return next year and will be eager to put together a championship campaign. Three of the boys will return as the team will have the task of filling the shoes of the leaders they’ll be losing after this year.