Clear Creek Amana boys, Solon girls claim Wamac Conference track titles

DYERSVILLE — With the team title on the line and the final event approaching, Clear Creek Amana’s Gavin Zillyette made a request to Coach Ben Robison:

Give me the stick. Put it on my shoulders.

“I was supposed to lead it off,” Zillyette said. “But I knew what was on the line, so I asked if I could anchor.”

Request granted. Championship won.

In what amounted to a match race in traffic, Zillyette and the Clippers edged Benton Community for third place in the 1,600-meter relay. The outcome gave CCA a 107-106 edge over the Bobcats for the Wamac Conference boys’ track and field title Thursday night at Beckman Catholic High School.

“We knew it was going to be a battle from the start,” said Zillyette, who absorbed a bear hug from Robison afterward. “It came down to the end, and to win back-to-back titles, it’s amazing.”

The Clippers won six events and overcame a disqualification in the 400-meter hurdles, which turned out to be a seven-point swing in Benton’s favor.

Zillyette, Ben Swails and Harrison Rosenberg were the key figures for CCA.

Swails won the long jump, Rosenberg claimed the 110-meter hurdles and both were on a shuttle hurdle relay quartet that set a meet record in 1:01.08.

“We really wanted to win this meet,” Rosenberg said. “We know we have a lot of competition. Here, it’s not about getting events in (like it is before Drake or state). You’re more focused on the team.”

Sam Wallace won the 200 and led off the winning 800 relay for Benton.

While the boys’ race went to the wire, Solon — in the parlance of track and field — lapped the girls’ field.

The Spartans won 11 events and scored 180 points. Williamsburg was second with 90.

If this was an election, they could have declared a winner with just a few of the precincts reporting.

“There are a lot of good people, a lot of good teams here,” Emma Bock said. “We couldn’t come here, slack off and not give it our all.”

Bock anchored a record-setting, tone-setting sprint medley relay (the Spartans ran in 1:50.27) in the first event.

While seniors like Bock (a Texas Tech recruit) and Kaia Holtkamp (Iowa State) have been the headliners as Solon has risen to state prominence, freshman Aly Stahle has developed into a major factor.

Stahle won the 100 and 200 and ran on the winning 400- and 800-meter relays.

“She has helped us a bunch,” Bock said. “After she ran that 200 in (25.98), she was really happy, and we were happy for her.”

Holtkamp was on two winning relays and claimed the 800 and the high jump.

“This year, my steps have kind of been off (in the high jump), but I was able to see a big change today,” Holtkamp said.

Other stars Thursday included South Tama’s JoJo Tyynismaa (who won both girls’ hurdles events) and Marion’s Shane Erb (the boys’ 3,200 and 1,600 champion).

Erb set a Wamac record in the 1,600, in 4:26.41.

“I didn’t look at my watch once in the 1,600,” he said. “I just had to step up and compete.”

Erb ran down longtime rival Eli Larson of Center Point-Urbana in the final stretch.

“I want to say this: I have nothing but the utmost respect for Eli,” Erb said. “We’re going to be teammates next year (at Wartburg College), and I can’t wait to work out with him.”

Girls Results

Teams — 1. Solon 180, 2. Williamsburg 90, 3. Mount Vernon 83, 4. Clear Creek Amana 76, 5. Center Point-Urbana 72, 6. South Tama 54, 7. Marion 44, 8. Independence 38, 9. Benton Community 30, 10. (tie) Maquoketa and Vinton-Shellsburg 24, 12. West Delaware 20, 13. Dyersville Beckman 6.

Shot put — 1. Sophia Kreutner (V-S), 36-5 3/4; 2. Kortney Babinat (STC), 36-1 1/4; 3. Jaclyn Wooldridge (CPU), 36-0 1/4.

Discus — 1. Taylor Luscomb (CPU), 133-5; 2. Libby Dix (MtV), 129-11; 3. Brylee Bruce (V-S), 116-4.

High jump — 1. Kaia Holtkamp (Solon), 5-0; 2. Emma Harwick (STC), 5-0; 3. Bliss Beck (CCA), 4-10.

Long jump — 1. Ava Maloney (CPU), 16-8 1/4; 2. MaKinley Levin (Solon), 16-4 3/4; 3. Emma Descourouez (CCA), 16-3.

Sprint medley relay — 1. Solon (Stahle, Levin, Stahle, Bock), 1:50.27*; 2. Independence, 1:54.28; 3. Mount Vernon, 1:54.40.

3,000 — 1. Kayla Young (Solon), 10:59.00; 2. Emrie Johnson (MtV), 11:20.84; 3. Kora Katcher (CPU), 11:31.00.

3,200 relay — 1. Solon (O’Neill, Federspiel, Quillin, Holtkamp), 9:51.98; 2. Mount Vernon, 10:02.06; 3. Williamsburg, 10:03.29.

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Clear Creek Amana (Mathis, Cullen, Cetta, Kabolo), 1:07.27; 2. Solon, 1:08.32; 3. Benton Community, 1:09.24.

100 — 1. Aly Stahle (Solon), 12.88; 2. Rylee Vercande (Wmsbg), 12.96; 3. Kendra Eichhorn (Wmsbg), 13.12.

Distance medley relay — 1. Marion (Burlage, Piper, Steffen, Prier), 4:27.90; 2. Clear Creek Amana, 4:31.29; 3. Solon, 4:32.11.

400 — 1. Emma Bock (Solon), 58.26; 2. Gracie Federspiel (Solon), 59.07; 3. Alyssa Larson (Ind), 59.84.

800 relay — 1. Solon (Levin, Levin, Duckett, Stahle), 1:46.84; 2. Williamsburg, 1:47.70; 3. Center Point-Urbana, 1:49.10.

100 hurdles — 1. JoJo Tyynismaa (STC), 15.65; 2. Silvana Kabolo (CCA), 15.89; 3. Sophia Stahle (Solon), 16.04.

800 — 1. Kaia Holtkamp (Solon), 2:21.68; 2. Laura Swart (MtV), 2:26.80; 3. Macey Marovets (Wmsbg), 2:32.35.

200 — 1. Aly Stahle (Solon), 25.98; 2. JoJo Tyynismaa (STC), 26.03; 3. Kendra Eichhorn (Wmsbg), 26.79.

400 hurdles — 1. JoJo Tyynismaa (STC), 1:05.71; 2. Sophia Stahle (Solon), 1:05.77; 3. Alivia Schulte (WDel), 1:09.11.

1,500 — 1. Laura Swart (MtV), 5:09.79; 2. Ruth Jennings (Wmsbg), 5:15.25; 3. Taylor Winegarden (Wmsbg), 5:17.79.

400 relay — 1. Solon (Levin, Stahle, Duckett, Wolff), 49.72*; 2. Williamsburg, 50.32; 3. Center Point-Urbana, 51.39.

1,600 relay — 1. Solon (Levin, Holtkamp, Federspiel, Bock), 4:04.80; 2. Independence, 4:11.03; 3. Mount Vernon, 4:11.32.

*meet record

Boys Results

Teams — 1. Clear Creek Amana 107, 2. Benton Community 106, 3. Solon 98, 4. Marion 88, 5. Mount Vernon 74, 6. Williamsburg 64, 7. Center Point-Urbana 61, 8. (tie) Maquoketa and South Tama 38, 10. Vinton-Shellsburg 29, 11. Independence 27, 12. Dyersville Beckman 9, 13. West Delaware 2.

Shot put — 1. Jake Sidles (Ind), 48-7 1/2; 3. Andrew Sholes (CPU), 45-4 3/4; 3. Tory Wash (V-S), 45-0.

Discus — 1. Collin Grau (Maq), 150-9; 2. Brennen Blegen (BC), 150-4; 3. Adam Smith (Solon), 148-0.

High jump — 1. Derek Weisskopf (Wmsbg), 6-6; 2. Trey O'Neil (Wmsbg), 5-10; 3. Tye Hardin (Wmsbg), 5-10.

Long jump — 1. Ben Swails (CCA), 21-2 3/4; 2. Alex Mota (Marion), 20-1 3/4; 3. Keelan Hoover (Maq), 19-8 1/2.

Sprint medley relay — 1. Clear Creek Amana (Pegump, Rosenberg, Brecht, Zillyette), 1:35.39; 2. Marion, 1:35.64; 3. Benton Community, 1:36.30.

3,200 — 1. Shane Erb (Marion), 9:43.01; 2. Jedidiah Osgood (Marion), 9:43.98; 3. Eli Larson (CPU), 9:45.73.

3,200 relay — 1. South Tama (Rosenberger, Meyer, Brant, Tyynismaa), 8:20.63; 2. Mount Vernon, 8:22.84; 3. Center Point-Urbana, 8:23.72.

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Clear Creek Amana (Swails, Lang, Schlemme, Rosenberg), 1:01.08*; 2. Benton Community, 1:02.57; 3. Solon 1:04.14.

100 — 1. Alex Mota (Marion), 11.12; 2. Sam Wallace (BC), 11.19; 3. Aaron Kramer (CPU), 11.29.

Distance medley relay — 1. Clear Creek Amana (Swails, Freeman, Gisleson, Zillyette), 3:40.54; 2. Mount Vernon, 3:42.29; 3. Solon, 3:45.80.

400 — 1. Jeremy Bachus (Solon), 50.51; 2. Trenton Pitlik (MtV), 50.68; 3. Eliot Sharp (Marion), 51.05.

800 relay — 1. Benton Community (Wallace, Bruns, Sunesen, Brecht), 1:30.30; 2. Williamsburg, 1:31.60; 3. Clear Creek Amana, 1:32.32.

110 hurdles — 1. Harrison Rosenberg (CCA), 14.92; 2. Brady Mullen (Solon), 15.42; 3. Colin Buch (BC), 15.99.

800 — 1. Tommy Tyynismaa (STC), 1:59.70; 2. Carson Sansenbach (MtV), 2:00.22; 3. Blayze Havel (CPU), 2:03.04.

200 — 1. Sam Wallace (BC), 22.34; 2. Jacob Brecht (BC), 22.53; 3. Gage Freeman (CCA), 22.79.

400 hurdles — 1. Colin Buch (BC), 57.07; 2. Gavin Zillyette (CCA), 57.85; 3. Oaken Foster (Solon), 59.83.

1,600 — 1. Shane Erb (Marion), 4:26.41*; 2. Eli Larson (CPU), 4:27.08; 3. Jedidiah Osgood (Marion), 4:33.64.

400 relay — 1. Clear Creek Amana (Rosenberg, Swails, Johnson, Freeman), 43.35; 2. Williamsburg, 43.89; 3. Mount Vernon, 44.57.

1,600 relay — 1. Mount Vernon (Meeker, Fall, Erickson, Brase), 3:26.33; 2. Solon, 3:28.85; 3. Clear Creek Amana, 3:29.07.

*meet record

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com