Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

DES MOINES – Ben Kampman likened his performance following a disappointing eighth-place finish at the Drake Relays last month to falling off a cliff.

On Thursday the Solon senior found himself on the top of the mountain.

Kampman became the first state discus champion in Solon history on Thursday winning the Class 3A crown with a toss of 186-3.

The title capped an incredible senior season for Kampman who became just the fifth prep in Iowa history to throw 200 feet with a career-best throw of 200-5 at the North Cedar Invitational on April 23.

“I was extremely disappointed after Drake,” Kampman said. “I was kind of riding the high after North Cedar and I kind of fell off a cliff pretty much after Drake. I started taking a more methodical approach and worked on my form and it worked out.”

The title from Kampman made history and etched his name into a strong throwing legacy at Solon under throws coach Brad Wymer.

Solon had a pair of state champions in the shot put but had never had a discus champion until Kampman changed that on Thursday.

“Our throwers are consistently good every single year, they score so many points for us at the state meet, they are so valuable to our team and coach Wymer always has them in the conversation for a state title,” Solon coach Mark Sovers said. “The fact that Ben was able to win the first one couldn’t happen to a better person.”

The title by Kampman was part of a big opening day for Solon that propelled the Spartans into second in the 3A team race with 20 points.

Solon finished third in the 4×800 relay and Brick Kabela was fifth in the 3,200 on a strong opening day for the Spartans.

“The team culture at Solon is great, everyone wants to see everyone succeed,” Kampman said. “That’s been instilled in us as young kids.”

Kampman controlled the discus competition from the outset on Thursday taking control with a toss of 178-5 on his second attempt.

His winning throw of 186-3 came on his second to last attempt in finals and was more than six feet better than runner-up Derek Weisskopf of Williamsburg (179-8).

“I was just trying to be a little more relaxed and up the tempo a bit at the end,” Kampman said. “It worked.”

Kabela earned a medal in the 3,200 for the second consecutive season placing fifth in a career-best time of 9:18.44.

The time by Kabela was nearly seven seconds faster than his previous career-best, broke his own school record and was more than 26 seconds faster than the 9:44.7 he ran last season while placing eighth at the state meet.

“It’s a little bittersweet, I was hoping for fourth place but I came here and ran a pr and that’s all you can really ask for,” Kabela said. “When I look back I will be really proud of this season.”

Western Dubuque sophomore Quentin Nauman won the title in 8:54.11, the fourth fastest time in state history, while Pella sophomore Canaan Dunham was runner-up in 9:00.93.

The next three runners were separated by less than .1 of a second as Ethan Eichhorn and Kevin Coots of Council Bluffs Lewis Central finished third and fourth in 9:18.35 and 9:18.43.

“It’s cool to be that close to third, even though it didn’t happen its still fun to be close to their guys that are running elite times,” Kabela said. “I’m not going to lie I took a peak at the scoreboard on the last lap watching Nauman come in so to race with these guys is really an honor.”

Kabela was also part of the Solon 4×800 that finished third in a  school-record time of 8:00.48.

Grant Bumsted, Spencer Michels and Michael Yeomans joined Kabela to help the Spartans win the opening heat with a time that put them third.

Center Point-Urbana won the 4×800 title in 7:57.39 followed by South Tama in 7:59.78.

“This season was stressful, it’s tough as a senior to stay focused in on track but this past week the focus has just been to go have fun,” Kabela said. “We’ve done the work and now it’s time to start enjoying it. It helps to be running relays with my teammates.”

Boys Results

Class 3A State Meet

At Drake Stadium in Des Moines

Team scores (Top 10; area teams) – 1. Pella 21; 2. Solon 20; 3. Williamsburg 17; 4. Center Point-Urbana 15; 5. Fairfield 12; 6. Council Bluffs Lewis Central 11; 7. Western Dubuque 10; 7. Carlisle 10; 9. Benton Community 9; 10. Clear Creek Amana 8; 10. Maquoketa 8; 10. South Tama 8

Individual results (Event winner; area participants)

3,200 – 1. Quentin Nauman (Western Dubuque) 8:54.11; 5. Brick Kabela (Solon) 9:18.44; 24. Nicholas Schieltz (Clear Creek Amana) 10:53.06

4×800 – 1. Center Point-Urbana 7:57.39; 3. Solon (Grant Bumsted, Brick Kabela, Spencer Michels, Michael Yeomans) 8:00.48; 6. Clear Creek Amana (Brock Hilsman, Noah Yost, Jackson VanHorn, Isaac Sorensen) 8:07.34

400 – 1. Braedin Zondervan (Carlisle) 48.31; 13. Rhett Mesch (Solon) 50.92

High jump – 1. Eli Zillman (Fairfield) 6-9

Discus – 1. Ben Kampman (Solon) 186-3; 4. Landon Prince (Clear Creek Amana) 167-11; 18. Mason Scott (Solon) 139-5

Girls Results 

Class 3A State Meet

At Drake Stadium in Des Moines

Team scores (Top 10; area teams) – 1. Mount Vernon 20; 2. Gilbert 18; 3. Pella 16; 4. ADM 13; 5. Charles City 12; 6. Clear Lake 11; 7. Hampton-Dumont-CAL 10; 8. Knoxville 8; 8. Dubuque Wahlert 8; 8. Sioux Center 8;

Individual results (Event winner; area participants)

3,000 – 1. Mariss Ferebee (Pella) 9:54.27; 21. Sydney Dee (Solon) 11:31.66

4×800 – 1. Gilbert 9:19.36; 11. Clear Creek Amana (Kiera Rogers, Kira Barker, Sara Kinzenbaw, Sam Schrage) 9:58.03; 20. Solon (Ava Rolwes, Grace Hoeper, Falyn Svalstad, Anna Quillin) 10:15.87

400 – 1. Reese Brownlee (Clear Lake) 55.56

High jump – 1. London Warmuth (ADM) 5-8; 16. Bliss Beck (Clear Creek Amana) 5-0; 21. Lilly Towne (Solon) 4-10

Discus – 1. Charlee Morton (Hampton-Dumont-CAL) 140-9; 15. Abigail Felton (Solon) 107-10

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