Photo by Jeff Yoder | Solon state track photo gallery

Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

DES MOINES – The 400 has always been a special event for Erin Kerkhoff.

A three-time state medalist in the event Kerkhoff wanted her final solo performance on the blue oval inside Drake Stadium to be a memorable one.

The Solon senior made that a reality on Thursday.

Kerkhoff notched her highest individual state finish ever with a third-place showing the 400 in a career-best time of 57.54 on a sunny and hot afternoon at the Class 3A state track and field meet.

“It means a lot,” Kerkhoff said. “I just wanted to go out and not have any regrets and go out as hard as I could. I am really happy with it.”

Kerkhoff was sixth in the 400 as a freshman and sophomore and moved up to fifth in the event last season.

In the final individual event of her career Kerkhoff came up with her best performance taking nearly half a second off her previous best time of 57.95 run last month at the Drake Relays.

“I had a better start than usual and I was happy with that,” Kerkhoff said. “I am happy with my time, that’s my best so that’s a great way to end in this event.”

Kerkhoff finished just off the pace of runner-up Madison Jocum of Sioux City Heelan at 57.45 while Davenport Assumption senior Carly King won the event with a time of 56.36.

The top time of Kerkhoff’s career came on one of the hottest days she had experienced.

Temperatures on Thursday soared into the low 90s with a heat index that reached into the upper 90s.

The heat took a toll on athletes across many events on Thursday but didn’t deter Kerkhoff.

“It’s really hot out here,” Kerkhoff said with a smile. “Honestly the heat didn’t really affect me during the race. I didn’t really feel it which was good.”

The third-place finish from Kerkhoff paired with an eighth-place finish by senior Elli Becicka in the discus put Solon in the top 10 in the teams standings after the opening day of the three-day meet.

Iowa Falls led the 3A team race with 18 points followed by Davenport Assumption with 14 while Solon closed day one with seven points.

“Knowing you are in the team race can add stress but coach (Brent) Sands told us to make sure we are here to have fun,” Becicka said. “Not everyone gets to experience this and we do. We have 20 girls here this year, that’s the most we’ve ever had and we are just going to have fun.”

With three state medals in the 400 already to her credit the third-place finish from Kerkhoff was no surprise for Solon.

Becicka collecting a point in the discus was a pleasant opening-day surprise for the Spartans.

The senior entered with the 20th best toss in 3A this season but finished eighth with a athrow of 116-0.

“I definitely surprised myself,” Becicka said. “I came in with the goal of wanting to score points for the team because I knew we needed all the points we could get if we want to meet our end goal of being state champs. I wanted to score points and I was able to get us one.”

Becicka was one of four WAMAC Conference competitors to earn medals in the 3A discus.

Mount Vernon junior Lily Meester won with a toss of 130-1, Talbot Kinney of Central DeWitt was runner-up and Lauren Upmeyer of Vinton-Shellsburg was third.

Of the four WAMAC medalists only Meester entered with a top-10 toss this season.

“Coming from where I was seeded I didn’t have that much stress on me,” Becicka said. “I thought I could just throw and it worked out.”

Class 3A

Team scores – 1. Iowa Falls 18; 2. Davenport Assumption 14; 3. Glenwood 12; 4. Mount Vernon 10; 5. Pella 9; 6. Anamosa 8; 6. Sioux City Heelan 8; 6. Central DeWitt 8; 9. Solon 7; 9. Vinton-Shellsburg 7

Individual results (Event winner; area qualifiers)

400 – 1. Carly King (Davenport Assumption) 56.36; 3. Erin Kerkhoff (Solon) 57.54; 14. Kaia Holtkamp (Solon) 1:02.25

3,000 – 1. Janette Schraft (Glenwood) 10:35.49; 18. Kiersten Conway (Solon) 11:40.41; 23. Kaylie Barker (Clear Creek Amana) 12:04.77

4×800 – 1. Iowa Falls 9:28.53; 14. Solon (Kaia Holtkamp, Calista Haasl, Aira Foster, Emma Bock) 10:07.38

High jump – 1. Miracle Ailes (Keokuk) 5-7; 13. Abby Smith (Solon) 5-2

Discus – 1. Lily Meester (Mount Vernon) 130-01; 8. Elli Becicka (Solon) 116-0; 10. Ava Conrad (Solon) 113-11; 19. Ainsley Schrock (Clear Creek Amana) 108-8

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