Solon junior Sophie NicolBy Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports

FORT DODGE – Prior to Saturday the only thing the seven Solon varsity cross country runners knew about the state meet was what head coach Emy Williams had told them about it.

On Saturday the young Spartans got their own first-hand look at state.

Solon placed 15th at the Class 3A state cross country meet at Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge.

“You can’t simulate it in anything that you do,” Williams said of the state meet. “Being here and actually running the race teaches them so much.

After 10 straight trips to state from 2003 to 2012, Solon was making its first appearance at state in four years on Saturday.

A Solon squad with two upperclassmen and one senior in its top seven didn’t have a runner that had experienced a state meet.

Williams hopes the trip to state can be a springboard for a team that had three freshmen and a sophomore in its top five finishers on Saturday.

Freshman Nicole Shafer led Solon, finishing 79th in 20:57.2 while sophomore Erin Kerkhoff was 91st in 21:10.1.

Junior Sophie Nicol finished 98th in 21:22.9 while freshman Aira Foster and Ella Duster placed 101st and 114th respectively.

“I think that experience is a spark,” Williams said. “You look at the number of kids we have up here experiencing it that are coming back, I think it just prepares them and excites them for next year to get back and improve on what we did this season.”

Clear Creek Amana sophomore Kaylie Barker finished 60th in 20:38.5. 

State Cross Country Meet Lakeside Golf Course
Class 3A Girls
Team scores – 1. Decorah 102; 2. Pella 106; 3. Charles City 135; 4. Sioux City Heelan 144; 5. Dubuque Wahlert 147; 6. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 203; 7. Dallas Center-Grimes 209; 8. North Polk 212; 9. Humboldt 212; 10. Denison-Shleswig 222; 11. Gilbert 242; 12. Spencer 248; 13. Davenport Assumption 273; 14. Ballard 296; 15. Solon 327.

Individual results – 1. Adrianna Katcher (Center Point-Urbana) 18:27.7; 2. McKayla Cole (Charles City) 18:40; 3. Julia Schumacher (Davenport Assumption) 18:43.5; 4. Joy Ripslinger (Davenport Assumption) 18:43.6; 5. Sophia Gilbert (Benton Community) 18:55.5; 6. Raegan Andersen (Denison-Schleswig) 19:03.3; 7. Josephine Berlage (Decorah) 19:08.6; 8. Ellie Friesen (Crestwood) 19:10.4; 9. Kourtney Delperdang (Spirit Lake) 19:13.5; 10. Mary Blanchard (Grinnell) 19:23.1; 11. Aubrie Fisher (Iowa Falls) 19:24.3; 12. Megan Sievers (Carlisle) 19:25.2; 13. Tess Roorda (Pella) 19:29.5; 14. Amber Aesoph (Sioux City Heelan) 19:34.1; 15. Isabella Luu (Humboldt) 19:40.

Solon (327) – 51. Nicole Shafer 20:57.2; 60. Erin Kerkhoff 21:10.1; 66. Sophie Nicol 21:22.9; 69. Aira Foster 21:33.7; 81. Ella Duster 21:54.8; 101. Calista Haasl 23:18.2; 105. Haley Kluesner 24:40.4.

Clear Creek Amana – 60. Kaylie Barker 20:38.5