Top-ranked Solon Continues Impressive Season With Win at Home Invitational
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
SOLON – Solon only moved up one spot in the girls cross country rankings last week but it was a big spot.
The Spartans went from second to first in the Class 3A rankings released by the Iowa Association of Track Coaches last Tuesday.
In its first meet as a top-ranked team Solon backed up its new spot atop Class 3A winning the team title at its own invitational on Monday at the Solon Nature and Recreation Area.
“Even though we are in front we know we have to keep working,” Solon senior Emma Bock said of the No. 1 ranking. “Just because you are in the lead right now doesn’t mean you will be in a month so that is driving us even more to keep working in practice.”
The title on Monday was yet another in a growing list of impressive performances that have pushed the Spartans from fifth in the preseason rankings to number one.
Running has a number one team for the first time it was the same old formula for success for Solon which used its balance and depth to win the team title by 31 points.
Solon had five runners in the top 14 on Monday winning the team title with 43 points finishing in front of Class 2A fourth-ranked Tipton and 3A No. 16 Mount Vernon/Lisbon which each finished with 74 points.
Junior Kayla Young led Solon with a fourth-place finish while sophomore Gracie Federspiel was seventh and Bock was eighth.
“It was super exciting but honestly, I don’t think for us it’s that big of a deal,” Federspiel said of the number one ranking. “We just want to get better throughout the season and improve as a team.”
Mount Vernon/Lisbon had three runners in the top nine led by individual champion Laura Swart who won in 19:48.1.
It was depth that carried the day for Solon.
Freshman Lydia Hogan was 10th and sophomore Anna Quillin 14th for the Spartans which had all of its top seven finishers in the top 20.
The same depth that helped Solon to the team title on Monday is what Federspiel believes has the Spartans atop the 3A rankings.
“I think it’s amazing that people are seeing us and believing how much depth we have and how we really do work as a team,” Federspiel said. “It definitely makes us work a lot harder in practices and in meets too. Just getting a varsity spot is really hard so we have to work hard every day.”
Young led the Spartans with her fourth-place finish in 20:33.2.
She finished five seconds in front of Mount-Vernon/Lisbon senior Anna Hoffman.
“I felt pretty good. It’s our home course so I know the course really well and where to surge,” Young said. “Normally we all have a strategy going out from the finish line and we know where we are going to be and that helps.”
Solon took advantage of the opportunity to run at home as Federspiel was seventh in 20:40.4 and Bock eighth in 21:12.9.
Hogan finished in 21:16.6 and Quillin in 21:35.2 as there was a little more than a minute of separation between the top five Spartan finishers.
“It’s super exciting,” Young said. “All my friends are here and my family is able to come. It’s a little nerve racking because there is that pressure that you want to impress everyone but it’s super exciting.”
Solon Invitational
At Solon Nature and Recreation Area
Teams Scores – 1. Solon 43; 2. Tipton 74; 3. Mount Vernon/Lisbon 74; 4. Williamsburg 83; 5. Davenport North 127; 6. Clinton 128; 7. Bettendorf JV 219; 8. Central DeWitt 242; 9. Liberty High JV 275
Individual leaders – 1. Laura Swart (MV/L) 19:48.1; 2. Camryn Sattler (CLI) 20:12.9; 3. Kayla Overton (DN) 20:24.4; 4. Kayla Young (SOL) 20:33.2; 5. Anna Hoffman (MV/L) 20:38.2; 6. Alivia Edens (TIP) 20:39.2; 7. Gracie Federspiel (SOL) 20:40.4; 8. Emma Bock (SOL) 21:12.9; 9. Emrie Johnson (MV/L) 21:14.1; 10. Lydia Hogan (SOL) 21:16.6; 11. Zada Buchholtz (WIL) 21:16.8; 12. Rebecca Hinderaker (TIP) 21:17.7; 13. Ruth Jennings (WIL) 21:27.8; 14. Anna Quillin (SOL) 21:35.2; 15. Kaia Holtkamp (SOL) 21:44.4
Solon (43) – 4. Kayla Young 20:33.2; 7. Gracie Federspiel 20:40.4; 8. Emma Bock 21:12.9; 10. Lydia Hogan 21:16.6; 14. Anna Quillin 21:35.2; 15. Kaia Holtkamp 21:44.4; 20. Mara Duster (SOL) 21:59.5
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