Solon’s Josie Durr missing her two favorite sports

SOLON — Normally, Josie Durr wouldn't be at this soccer practice.

It's Thursday, May 18 and if things had gone as planned, she would have been high jumping at the state championships, an event she had finished third in at the Drake Relays just a few weeks ago.

She has an injury, to her leg, one that is causing her to walk with a bit of a limp and robbing her of the postseason in two of her favorite sports — track and soccer. Solon's all-time leading goal scorer (she has 169) and the current leader in the state with 61 doesn't really show the disappointment on the outside, but it has to bother her.

Instead, she's choosing to remember the good moments.

'There's really no words, honestly,' Durr said. 'I love this team, I love this sport, all of the opportunities I've been given because of it, all of the tournaments and bus rides. I couldn't have asked for a better experience.'

Her favorite, she said, was when her mom told her she was six goals away from getting 100 last season. It was a home game against Mid-Prairie and Durr had jumped at the state track meet in the morning, finishing fourth.

Durr said she was 'dead' from jumping that morning, but her mom mentioned there would be a bunch of people at the game. With three minutes left, she got to 100.

'That was a fun day,' Durr said.

She has another one, too. Solon has been to the state tournament once, in 2014, Durr's freshman season. Her sister, Madi, was on that team, as well, which made it all the more special.

Since the 2014 season, they've gotten close to making a return, but haven't quite got over the hump.

Solon Coach John Tucker is taking losing Durr on the chin. He certainly hasn't thrown in the towel and wasn't even concrete she won't play again before the end of the season.

He certainly seems a little dejected when asked about Durr, but he knows he has a solid team and there are plenty of other players who will step up. Losing that type of athlete at this point in the season is a difficult thing to overcome and it's more than just her goal-scoring prowess.

'It's just her overall skill,' Tucker said. 'The other girls see her working hard and the things she's doing and they try to step up and do great things as well. She's just raised the level of the whole team.'

He said she's brought a lot from her club team (Iowa Soccer Club), where a number of other talented athletes also have played. While there still is time left in this season and Durr said she'll do everything she can to help her squad get ready for substate and potentially state, the next level beckons.

Durr will play collegiately at the University of Iowa, which she announced in February. She wanted to stay in state to be able to be around her little sisters and had offers from Iowa State and Northern Iowa, as well.

After taking the visit 20 minutes south on Iowa's campus, she just knew.

'After that visit there was no way I really could turn them down,' Durr said. 'It was pretty much a dream come true, because I knew I wanted to be a Hawkeye when I was little.'

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