Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

DES MOINES – Solon has already secured a well-earned status as a track school.

That reputation comes after back-to-back top-two finishes at the Class 3A state meet and another stellar season this spring.

During its recent string of success Solon has become an 800-meter factory and the Spartans added to its 4×800 success on Thursday on the opening day of the Class 3A state meet.

Solon posted its third consecutive top-two finish in the 4×800 relay on Thursday with a runner-up finish at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.

“Ever since our freshman year when we won (the 4×800)  we knew we could do the 800 thing,” Solon junior Anna Quillin said. “We had so many good runners, Kaia (Holtkamp), Emma (Bock), Meghan (O’Neill) and they left us last year but we knew we had Ashlyn (Williams) and Grace (Hoeper)  coming up and we knew we could hopefully continue that success.”

Solon won the 4×800 each of the past two seasons and finished runner-up on Thursday in a season-best time of 9:39.11.

Gilbert, who entered with the top time in 3A this season, won the 4×800 title in 9:29.11.

“They are a really good team and I am just glad we get the competition to push ourselves,” Solon junior Gracie Federspiel said. “We ran a season best and sometimes that’s all you can ask for.”

Federspiel and Quillin were the lone returning members of the Spartan’s state title team from a year ago.

Classmates Grace Hoeper and Ashlyn Williams joined the team this season and Solon barely skipped a beat, finishing a little less than five seconds off the 3A-winning time from a year ago.

“After last year I didn’t know how it was going to shake up but these girls are awesome,” Federspiel said. “We really pulled together and we really had a shot at it and I think that’s something to be really proud of.”

Gilbert was in control after the second leg but Solon stayed within striking distance behind a strong leg opening 2:24.6 leg from Quillin and a 2:27.7 split from Hoeper on the second leg.

“I knew that we needed to stay right with Gilbert if we wanted to give Gracie and Ashlyn a chance,” Hoeper said. “I was really just focusing on the back of the girl in front of me and trying to stay strong throughout my leg.”

Federspiel closed in 2:17.2 but couldn’t catch Gilbert anchor Sarah Feddersen who ran a 2:16.3 anchor.

“We knew that Gilbert is an amazing group of girls and that would be our stiffest competition,” Quillin said. “We were just all going to try our hardest and we had a pr but they ran amazing so you can’t really ask for anything else.”

The runner-up finish from Solon marked the fourth straight season the Spartans have finished in the top four in the 4×800 relay.

It was also the 16^th consecutive state meet relay in which Solon has placed, a streak that dates back to 2019.

The runner-up finish was part of a solid opening day for Solon which sits second in the 3A team standings after five events with 17 points.

ADM leads the 3A team race with 23 points and Pella is third with 15.

“Going into my second lap I noticed ADM was a team in front of us and that’s a team we are competing with this weekend so I told myself it was time to do it for the team,” Williams said. “It makes the races more exciting when you are going for team points.”

Solon also got top-eight finishes from Federspiel in the 400, senior Kayla Young in the 3,000 and sophomore Kate Shafer in the discus in its 17-point opening session.

Federspiel finished third in the 400 in a time of 57.28 while Young was eighth in the 3,000 in 10:52.26.

Shafer placed seventh in the discus with a mark of 122-7.

“Honestly it’s not exactly what I wanted but I gave it my all,” Federspiel said of the 400.  “Sometimes its not there that day but I really trust that it’s o.k. It’s one race.”

Girls

Class 3A

State Track and Field Meet

At Drake Stadium in Des Moines

Team scores (top 10; area teams) – 1. ADM 23; 2. Solon 17; 3. Pella 15; 4. Clear Lake 14; 5. Ballard 12; 5. Mount Vernon 12; 7. Hampton-Dumont-CAL 10; 7. Gilbert 10; 9. Center Point-Urbana 9; 9. Knoxville 9

Individual events (winner; area participants)

High jump – 1. London Warmuth (ADM) 5-7; 17. Lilly Towne (Solon) 4-10

Discus – 1. Charlee Morton (Hampton-Dumont-Cal) 137-6; 7. Kate Shafer (Solon) 122-7; 21. Abigail Felton (Solon) 105-4

400 – 1. Reese Brownlee (Clear Lake) 56.34; 3. Gracie Federspiel (Solon) 57.28; 13. Kobi Lietz (Solon) 1:00.64

3,000 – 1. Paityn Noe (Ballard) 9:38.82; 8. Kayla Young (Solon) 10:52.26

4×800 – 1. Gilbert 9:29.11; 2. Solon (Anna Quillin, Grace Hoeper, Ashlyn Williams, Gracie Federspiel) 9:39.11; 9. Clear Creek Amana (Kiera Rogers, Haidyn Barker, Sara Kinzenbaw, Sam Schrage) 9:51.25

Class 2A

Team scores (top 10; area teams) – 1. Estherville-Lincoln Central 11; 2. Hinton 10; 2. New Hampton 10; 2. Van Meter 10; 2. West Lyon 10; 2. Mid-Prairie 10; 2. Panorama 10; 8. Osage 9; 9. Pella Christian 8; 9. Sheldon 8; 9. Davis County 8; 9. Sumner-Fredericksburg 8; 9. Monticello 8

Individual events (winner; area participants)

Long jump – 1. Carlee Rochford (New Hampton) 17-10

Shot put – 1. Jana Ter Wee (West Lyon) 42-5; 9. Alyssa Pierce (West Branch) 37-6 ½; 18. Sadie Smith (West Branch) 34-0

400 – 1. Jaidyn Sellers (Panorama) 56.67

3,000 – 1. Danielle Hostetler (Mid-Prairie) 10:20.73

4×800 – 1. Van Meter 9:34.46

BOYS

Class 3A

State Track and Field Meet

At Drake Stadium in Des Moines

Team scores (top 10; area teams) – 1. Pella 27; 2. Solon 16; 3. Mount Vernon 15; 4. North Polk 12; 5. LeMars 10; 5. Dubuque Wahlert 10; 7. Winterset 9; 8. MOC-Floyd Valley 8; 8. Carlisle 8; 8. Western Dubuque 8; 8. Marion 8; 8. Council Bluffs Lewis Central 8

Individual events (winner; area participants)

High jump – 1. Sione Fifita (LeMars) 6-6; 13. Oaken Foster (Solon) 6-1

Discus – 1. Duke Faley (Dubuque Wahlert) 195-1; 3. Ben Kampman (Solon) 178-5; 4. Adam Smith (Solon) 169-0

400 – 1. Zach Fall (Mount Vernon) 48.53; 5. Jeremy Bachus (Solon) 49.33

3,200 – 1. Chase Lauman (Pella) 9:22.48; 8. Brick Kabela (Solon) 9:44.7

4×800 – 1. North Polk 7:58.17; 8. Clear Creek Amana (Brock Hilsman, Cash Jensen, Jamie Hayes, Isaac Sorensen) 8:12.57; 23. Solon (Michael Yeomans, Maddox Shipley, Brick Kabela, Grant Bumsted) 8:29.7

Class 2A

Team scores (top 10; area teams) – 1. Des Moines Christian 24; 2. Clarinda 21; 3. Shenandoah 13; 3. Mediapolis 13; 5. Okoboji 10; 5. Louisa-Muscatine 10; 5. West Sioux 10; 8. Williamsburg 8; 9. Van Buren 7; 10. OABCIG 6; 10. Crestwood 6; 10. Tipton 6; 10. Grundy Center 6

Long jump – 1. Carter Bultman (West Sioux) 22-7 ¾

Shot put – 1. Spencer Kessel (Louisa-Muscatine) 64-1 ¼

400 – 1. Alex Razee (Shenandoah) 49.22

3,200 – 1. Aaron Fynaardt (Des Moines Christian) 9:32.1

4×800 – 1. Okoboji 7:59.21

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