Solon’s Kayla Young gets first individual title at state cross country qualifier

SOLON — For all her cross country success this season, one thing had eluded Solon junior Kayla Young.

One of many on a deep and talented Spartans team, ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 3A, Young had never actually won a race as an individual heading into Wednesday's state qualifying meet at the Recreation & Nature Area.

Young took care of that with an impressive performance, leading from almost start to finish in winning the individual title in 19 minutes, 24 seconds. She outdistanced teammate Emma Bock by 15 seconds to take the gold medal.

The Spartans dominated the team race, placing six runners in the top 10, finishing with 26 points. Mount Vernon-Lisbon (74) and Marion (89) grabbed the other two team slots for the state meet.

In the boys’ race, Marion teammates Shane Erb and Jedidah Osgood worked together over most of the course. In the end, Erb edged his teammate by less than a second (both were clocked in 15:56) to get the win. The second-ranked Wolves took the team title with 26 points. Solon (70) and Mount Vernon-Lisbon (100) are also off to state.

For Solon's Young, the feeling to get her first individual win of the season was, in her words, “crazy.”

“It was just me and how hard I could push myself,” she said. “I was honestly trying to catch (the guide vehicle). It was nothing like I have ever experienced before.”

To grab the win on her home course made it even more special for the Spartan junior.

“It was incredible because everyone, my family and my friends, were all here today,” she said. “I just wanted to run well for all of them to make them proud and make my hometown proud as well.”

Solon will look to cap off its season with a team title next weekend in Fort Dodge.

“I really think we do have what it takes to win it all,” Young said. “We've all worked so hard and it has been our goal, so yeah, I think we can finish the job next week.”

The Marion boys will also be looking to win a team title next weekend. With Erb and Osgood leading the way, the Wolves are focused on going against top-ranked Dallas Center-Grimes.

“It will be great to race against DC-G because we haven't seen them this year,” Erb said. “It's going to be a great race with them and I can't wait to get there.”

Erb and his teammates were in top form during Wednesday's meet. Four Marion runners finished in the top seven.

The race for the individual title was pretty much between Erb and Osgood. They finished 19 seconds ahead of Washington (Iowa) senior Lance Sobaski.

Having teammates running together was beneficial for the two Marion runners.

"Once we got into the postseason we talked about if we want to win big meets we would have to work together," Erb said. "It was our plan today to work together. I took the first part and he took the second part and at the end we both just went for it."

Class 3A Qualifying Meets

At Solon, Recreation and Nature Area

GIRLS

Team scoring

(Top 3 Qualify for State)

1. Solon 26, 2. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 74, 3. Marion 89, 4. Davenport Assumption 95, 5. Washington 128, 6. Benton Community 142, 7. Mount Pleasant 191, 8. Fort Madison 210, 9. DeWitt Central 255, 10. Maquoketa 275.

Individual State Qualifiers

1. Kayla Young (S) 19:24, 2. Emma Bock (S) 19.39, 3. Anna Hoffman (MV-L) 19:49, 4. Peyton Steffen (M) 19:50, 5. Laura Swart (MV-L) 19:54, 6. Anna Quillin (S) 20:01, 7. Madison Prier (M) 20:01, 8. Grace Federspiel (S) 20:04, 9. Meghan O'Neill (S) 20:07, 10. Mara Duster (S) 20:12, 11. Morgan Jennings (Dav. Assump) 20:13, 12. Hannah Fruehling (Burl-ND) 20:15.8, 13. Hadley Augustine (Burl-ND) 20:18, 14. Nicole Carmona (Dav. Assump) 20.19, 15. Emrie Johnson (MV-L) 20.36.

BOYS

Team scoring

(Top 3 Qualify for State)

1. Marion 26, 2. Solon 70, 3. Mount Vernon-Lisbon 100, 4. Washington, Iowa 101, 5. South Tama 142, 6. Mount Pleasant 184, 7. Benton Community 198, 8. Davenport Assumption 199, 9. Fort Madison 236, 10. DeWitt Central 247, 11. Maquoketa 351, 12. Keokuk 369.

Individual State Qualifiers

1. Shane Erb (M) 15:56, 2. Jedidah Osgood (M) 15:56, 3. Lance Sobaski (Wash) 16:15, 4. Brick Kabela (S) 16:36, 5. Blake Roling (M) 16:39, 6. Tommy Tyynismaa (S. Tama) 16:40, 7. Chris Oberbrockling (M) 16:46, 8. Gabe Hinman (S) 16:56, 9. Micah Rees (Wash) 16:56, 10. James Bryant (S. Tama) 17:04. 11. Cooper Cook (M) 17:07, 12. Trey Schulte (BC) 17:11, 13. Michael Yeomans (S) 17:16, 14. Jordan Fischer (M) 17:20, 15. David Lochner (Dav. Assump.) 17:20.