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Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

SOLON – Adam Bock did a lot of winning on the football field inside Spartan Stadium during his four-year prep career.

The final Spartan Stadium appearance for Bock ended in fitting fashion with one more triumph.  

Bock won the 100 meters on Tuesday in his final home track meet to help Solon to a third-place team finish at the Denny Gruber Relays.

“It feels good to go out on a win in this stadium that means a lot to me,” Bock said. “This is the last time I will compete in this stadium so it feels good to go out with a win.”

Bock won the 100 in 11.71 and helped the Solon 4×200 relay team to a third-place finish as the Spartans finished with 110 points.

Mount Vernon pulled away to win the team title with 133 points while Marion was second with 114 points.

“That’s what coaching is all about is kids like him,” Solon coach Mark Sovers said of Bock. “If you had more Adam Bocks you would have no worries in the world. He’s just a tremendous kid and the type of person he is comes through on the track.”

Bock was seeded sixth in the final heat of the 100 but got out to a strong start in lane two and held off a late surge from Marion senior Braeden Svoboda.

The 11.71 was the top time of the season for Bock and nearly a full tenth of a second faster than Svoboda who was second in 11.78.

“I’m about good things happening to good people and he’s done a lot and invested a lot not only in himself but in his teammates and when you do that it comes back to you,” Sovers said. “I’m just excited for him to have that opportunity and to see that pure joy after he got done.”

The unexpected nature of the win made the final win at Spartan Stadium a little more special for Bock who bettered his previous top time this season by nearly two tenths of a second.

“I’ve been second or third and I finally won one,” Bock said. “That felt great.”

A four-sport athlete that also excels in baseball and wrestling, Bock will play football at South Dakota State next fall.

Coming off physically demanding seasons in football and wrestling and with a final prep baseball season and then a college football career waiting in the future some would wonder if Bock would skip track season as a senior.

That thought never crossed his mind.

“There was no doubt in my mind I was going to run track,” Bock said. “It’s just another way to compete with people around the area and get faster at the same time while competing and spending time with your teammates.

Bock has his sights set on adding a few more wins to his track resume along with getting the Solon sprint relay teams back to the state meet.

“Last year we really peaked at the right time and that’s what we are planning to do again this year,” Bock said. “Our times haven’t really been where we want them right now but it’s all the little things like handoffs and that little stuff is going to add up and hopefully we will peak at the right time.”

Junior Thomas Brandt joined Bock as an individual champ on Tuesday winning the 400 hurdles in a season-best time of 59.37 and was runner-up in the 100 hurdles in 16.44.

Solon got runner-up finishes from Coal Flansburg in the discus, Rocky Lensing in the shot put and Colton Hoffman in the high jump.

The foursome of Seamus Poynton, Dillon Hoit, Aidan Dall and Bo Janssen were second in the distance medley in 4:04.86 and Dall, Janssen, Brad Yeomans and Brayden Rickertson teamed up to place third in the 4×400 in 3:41.67.

“We are starting to see some of those things beyond the sprints come through,” Sovers said. “One of the highlights of the meet for me was the 4×400 and watching those guys run and compete like that.”

Denny Gruber Relays

Team scores – 1. Mount Vernon 133; 2. Marion 114; 3. Solon 110; 4. Vinton-Shellsburg 90; 5. Davenport Assumption 48; 6. Regina 37; 7. Dyersville Beckman 26; 8. North Cedar 21

Individual results (Event winners; area placewinners)

100 – 1. Adam Bock (SOL) 11.71; 3. Theo Kolie (ICR) 11.82

200 – 1. Keegan Thompson (V-S) 23.18; 3. Theo Kolie (ICR) 23.89; 4. Colton Hoffman (SOL) 23.98; 5. Jack Bell (SOL) 24.04

400 – 1. Keegan Thompson (V-S) 52.49; 4. Brayden Rickertson (SOL) 55.3;

800 – 1. Chris Guise (DA) 2:02.01

1,600 – 1. Gavin Hiler (MAR) 4:44.79; 5. Ben DeValk (SOL) 5:08.56; 6. Tyler Bilskie (SOL) 5:14.45

3,200 – 1. Harrison Vanderlinden (MAR) 10:10.5

110 hurdles – 1. Chevy Burnell (V-S) 16.35; 2. Thomas Brandt (SOL) 16.44; 6. Brady Jeworrek (SOL) 18.23

400 hurdles – 1. Thomas Brandt (SOL) 59.37

4×100 – 1. Marion 44.65; 4. Regina (Jack Goedken, Carson Jensen, Henry May, Theo Kolie) 46.6

4×200 – 1. Marion 1:31.43; 3. Solon (Jace Andregg, Jackson Pipolo, AJ Coons, Adam Bock) 1:34.36

4×400 – 1. Mount Vernon 3:33.65; 3. Solon (Aidan Dall, Brad Yeomans, Bo Janssen, Brayden Rickertson) 3:41.67

4×800 – 1. Mount Vernon 8:19.48; 4. Solon (Ben DeValk, Tyler Bilskie, Brayton Bair, Brad Yeomans) 9:13.6; 6. Regina (Jack Goedken, Nicholas Abusada, Nick Kratz, Jack Kelly) 10:55.29

Shuttle hurdle relay – 1. Marion 1:05.51; 3. Solon (Thomas Brandt, Jackson Ryan, Brady Jeworrek, Mason Stahle) 1:07.34

Sprint medley relay – 1. Marion 1:38.0; 3. Solon (Ryan Geistkemper, Colton Hoffman, Jack Bell, Brayden Rickertson) 1:39.73

Distance medley relay – 1. Mount Vernon 3:57.24; 2. Solon (Seamus Poynton, Dillon Hoit, Aidan Dall, Bo Janssen) 4:04.86

Discus – 1. Matt Vislisel (MV) 168-2; 2. Coal Flansburg (SOL) 158-8; 3. Hayes Dierson (SOL) 149-7; 4. Luke Stein (ICR) 138-10

Shot put – 1. Caden Wendt (NC) 51-7 ¼; 2. Rocky Lensing (SOL) 50-2; 3. Luke Stein (ICR) 49-2 ¾

Long jump – 1. Theo Kolie (ICR) 21-1 ¼; 5. Payton Herdliska (SOL) 19-9 ¾

High jump – 1. CJ Rickels (V-S) 6-1; 2. Colton Hoffman (SOL) 5-8

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