Scheels Athlete of the Week: Solon Sophomore Kabela Riding Three-meet Winning Streak
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
SOLON – It took Brick Kabela a little more than one full season to accomplish his goal of winning an individual title at a cross country meet.
Once Kabela got his first career win it seems nothing has been able to slow the Solon sophomore standout.
Kabela claimed the first individual title of his career at the Tipton Invitational on September 7th.
After a seventh-place performance at the Ballard Invitational six days later Kabela has rattled off three consecutive wins picking up titles at the Solon Invitational, the Anamosa Invite and most recently the Williamsburg Invitational on Tuesday,
“It was definitely an accomplishment that I was looking forward to doing all season,” Kabela said of his first career win. “It seems like after I got one I am in a good grove and I can’t really be stopped.”
The win streak for Kabela started on his home course when he won the Solon Invitational on September 20 in a time of 17:04.
Kabela then rattled of a career-best time of 16:42 on his way to an individual title at the Anamosa Invitational five days later.
On Monday he clocked a 16:52.5 while winning the Williamsburg Invitational by more than 12 seconds.
“I feel like my workouts are starting to pay off now and I am getting towards my peak but not quite where I can be,” Kabela said. ““The more races I run the more comfortable I feel going out there and running my race and I know the way I run is going to be the best for me.”
The mid-season winning streak for Kabela hasn’t been a surprise.
A strong freshman season from Kabela last fall concluded with an 11th place finish at the WAMAC Conference meet and a 10th place effort at the state qualifier before finishing 26th at the 3A state meet.
With a year of varsity experience under his belt Kabela has emerged as one of the best underclassmen in the state and top runners in Class 3A.
“Him and his dad talk a lot about his race strategy and I think that has helped him a lot and I also think the competitiveness in him has helped,” Solon coach Emy Williams said. “I think all of those things combined, the experience of a year of races, the competitiveness in him and having his dad as a mentor that he is able to talk to about those races has been really good for him.”
The biggest adjustment for Kabela in his varsity debut season a year ago was race strategy.
This year that has become one of the biggest strengths for Kabela who is currently ranked 16th in the Class 3A individual rankings by the Iowa Association of Track Coaches.
“I don’t know that I’ve seen a kid in my years of coaching that have their race plan down to a science like he does,” Williams said. “He knows exactly how he is going to start and where he is going to make his move and when he does make his move what that means. That is a fun thing to see as a coach to get to watch that and watch him grow and to be able to figure out how to run his best race.”
Kabela says the mental aspect of racing, including his pre-meet strategy, has improved with every opportunity to compete.
“I learned a lot last year about race strategy,” Kabela said. “I had a lot of races to learn from and I this year I feel like that has really paid off because I am way more comfortable in my races.”
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