Mount Vernon girls, Solon boys rule the Wamac in track and field

MARION — If this was a seven-year itch, as Caliana Whitaker indicated, consider it scratched and satisfied.

“We hadn’t beaten Solon (in a Wamac Conference meet) since 2017,” Whitaker said. “We knew we were going for places and points tonight.”

In a battle between the area’s top two girls’ track and field teams, Mount Vernon ended Solon’s three-year Wamac championship reign Thursday; the Mustangs outpointed the Spartans, 165-152, at Marion Stadium.

“It’s awesome,” Whitaker said. “This has been a big goal. We have a lot of great pieces.”

And a good number of them are freshmen and sophomores, so this might be the start of something.

Libby Dix swept the throwing events, and the Mustangs took control of the team race when Eastin Whisner and Kiersten Swart ran 1-2 in the 400-meter hurdles.

Mount Vernon won seven events, Solon six.

Despite winning just one event, Solon repeated as boys’ champion and did so convincingly.

The Spartans accumulated 123.5 points. Williamsburg (93 points) was second, followed by Clear Creek Amana (88), and Center Point-Urbana (83.5).

“This wasn’t the plan that we planned on, but this was the plan that came to us,” Solon Coach Mark Sovers said. “We did what we had to do.

“We developed a competitive lineup, and I’m proud of what we did tonight.”

Solon’s lone title was a record-breaking one: Brick Kabela set a conference record in the 3,200 meters — 9:31.95.

Thursday’s other meet record came from Clear Creek Amana’s shuttle hurdle relay (1:00.37). It was one of three titles for Aren Schlemme, who also ruled the long jump (21-3 1/4) and the 110-meter hurdles (14.93).

“My long jump should have been better,” Schlemme said. “I need to get higher.”

As for the shuttle ...

“That’s the best we’ve ever run,” Schlemme said. “So that was neat.”

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South Tama’s Tommy Tyynismaa matched Schlemme as a triple champion. His 1:53.6 anchor allowed the Trojans to win the 3,200-meter relay in 8:02.92 (a school record by 8 seconds), then he won solo in the 800 (1:58.73) and 1,600 (4:29.11).

“I was kind of feeling everybody out for the first part (of the 1,600),” Tyynismaa said. “I really took off with about 600 to go.”

Tyynismaa ran the back half of the 1,600 in 2:10. He has committed to run next year at Iowa State.

“I want to be an engineer, and their engineering program is probably No. 1 in the nation,” Tyynismaa said. “And their middle-distance program is on the rise.”

Wamac athletes of the year, as voted upon by the coaches, were Williamsburg’s Derek Weisskopf (discus and high jump champion) and Solon’s Gracie Federspiel (anchored the winning sprint medley relay).

Wamac Conference Championships

At Marion Stadium

Girls Results

Teams — 1. Mount Vernon 165, 2. Solon 152, 3. Marion 79, 4. West Delaware 70, 5. Williamsburg 65, 6. Clear Creek Amana 64, 7. Grinnell 50, 8. Benton Community 31, 9. Independence 20, 10. Vinton-Shellsburg 18, 11. Center Point-Urbana 14, 12. South Tama 9.

Shot put — 1. Libby Dix (MtV), 37-11; 2. Ana Glawe (BC), 37-7; 3. Abigail Felton (Solon), 35-11.

Discus — 1. Libby Dix (MtV), 124-3; 2. Abigail Felton (Solon), 108-7; 3. Ana Glawe (BC), 106-3.

High jump — 1. Sydney Maue (MtV), 5-6; 2. (tie) Lauren LeClere (WDel) and Carlee Webber (Marion), 5-2.

Long jump — 1. Aiden Gosselink (Grin), 17-3; 2. Elizabeth Timmerman (CCA), 16-1 1/2; 3. Oliva Hala (STC), 15-10 3/4.

Sprint medley relay — 1. Solon (Stahle, Kellen, Lietz, Federspiel), 1:48.85; 2. Williamsburg, 1:51.22; 3. Mount Vernon, 1:52.99.

3,000 — 1. Claire Jensen (MtV), 11:06.79; 2. Sydney Dee (Solon), 11:11.21; 3. Olivia Primrose (V-S), 11:30.78.

3,200 relay — 1. West Delaware (O'Rear, Kolbet, Lynch, Kartman), 9:47.22; 2. Marion, 9:48.31; 3. Solon, 9:49.88.

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Mount Vernon (Meester, Swart, Haverback, Appleton), 1:07.99; West Delaware, 1:09.87; 3. Benton Community, 1:10.52.

100 — 1. Mia Duckett (Solon), 12.52; 2. Kenzie Lovell (Marion), 12.57; 3. Aly Stahle (Solon), 12.67.

Distance medley relay — 1. West Delaware (Mensen, Peyton, O'Rear, Kartman), 4:21.04; 2. Mount Vernon, 4:23.70; 3. Solon, 4:26.88.

400 — 1. Ava Hocker (Wmsbg), 58.10; 2. Gracie Federspiel (Solon), 59.03; 3. Caliana Whitaker (MtV), 1:00.25.

800 relay — 1. Solon (Stahle, Ashbacker, Hoeper, Duckett), 1:48.69; 2. Marion, 1:48.84; 3. Clear Creek Amana, 1:49.08.

100 hurdles — 1. Aly Stahle (Solon), 15.69; 2. Avery Schmitz (WDel), 16.06; 3. Brooklyn Banghart (Ind), 16.24.

800 — 1. Kyra Cordes (Marion), 2:22.90; 2. Evelyn Moeller (MtV), 2:29.00; 3. Anna Quillin (Solon), 2:29.23.

200 — 1. Caliana Whitaker (MtV), 26.26; 2. Aiden Gosselink (Grin), 26.48; 3. Elizabeth Timmerman (CCA), 26.54.

400 hurdles — 1. Eastin Whisner (MtV), 1:08.17; 2. Kiersten Swart (MtV), 1:08.64; 3. Norah Peyton (WDel), 1:09.38.

1,500 — 1. Sydney Dee (Solon), 5:08.14; 2. Edie Axmear (Wmsbg), 5:12.98; 3. Kendall Orozco (Marion), 5:13.29.

400 relay — 1. Solon (Stahle, Kellen, Stahle, Duckett), 50.57; 2. Grinnell, 51.31; 3. Williamsburg, 51.38.

1,600 relay — 1. Marion (McAllister, Lovell, Cordes, Carnes), 4:08.46; 2. West Delaware, 4:10.24; 3. Solon, 4:11.29.

Boys Results

Teams — 1. Solon 123.5, 2. Williamsburg 93, 3. Clear Creek Amana 88, 4. Center Point-Urbana 83.5, 5. Grinnell 77.5, 6. Benton Community 59, 7. Mount Vernon 54, 8. South Tama 39, 9. Marion 37.5, 10. Vinton-Shellsburg 34, 11. Independence 29, 12. West Delaware 23.

Shot put — 1. Tory Wash (V-S), 56-5 3/4; 2. Brady McDonald (Ind), 53-6; 3. Derek Weisskopf (Wmsbg), 52-3.

Discus — 1. Derek Weisskopf (Wmsbg), 176-9; 2. Ben Kampman (Solon), 175-10; 3. Brennen Blegen (BC), 158-8.

High jump — 1. Derek Weisskopf (Wmsbg), 6-6; 2. Eli Patterson (BC), 6-4; 3. Jackson Kutcher (MtV), 6-0.

Long jump — 1. Aren Schlemme (CCA), 21-3 1/4; 2. Caleb Bock (Solon), 20-10 1/2; 3. Carson Penyich (Grin), 20-4 1/4.

Sprint medley relay — 1. Grinnell (Heishman, Ringler, Mahoney, Harter), 1:33.94; 2. Williamsburg, 1:34.17; 3. Clear Creek Amana, 1:35.46.

3,200 — 1. Brick Kabela (Solon), 9:31.95*; 2. Grady Olberding (MtV), 9:34.84; 3. Cooper Cook (Marion), 9:48.42.

3,200 relay — 1. South Tama (Brant, Rohrs, Rosenberger, Tyynismaa), 8:02.92; 2. Center Point-Urbana, 8:04.30; 3. Clear Creek Amana, 8:08.08.

Shuttle hurdle relay — 1. Clear Creek Amana (Seals, Higdon, Rosenberg, Schlemme), 1:00.37*; 2. Solon, 1:00.75; 3. Marion, 1:03.70.

100 — 1. Evan Mahoney (Grin), 11.11; 2. Clayten Steckly (Wmsbg), 11.19; 3. A.J. Maloney (CPU), 11.28.

Distance medley relay — 1. Clear Creek Amana (Frank, Rosenberg, Berry, Sorensen), 3:38.77; 2. Solon, 3:41.00; 3. Mount Vernon, 3:41.67.

400 — 1. Nathan Miller (CPU), 49.72; 2. Rayce Heitman (Wmsbg), 50.16; 3. Michael Yeomans (Solon), 50.24.

800 relay — 1. Grinnell (Heishman, Ringler, Harter, Mahoney), 1:30.59; 2. Solon, 1:31.50; 3. Williamsburg, 1:31.75.

110 hurdles — 1. Aren Schlemme (CCA), 14.93; 2. Tay Seals (CCA), 15.22; 3. Clark Morris (WDel), 15.72.

800 — 1. Tommy Tyynismaa (STC), 1:58.73; 2. Peyton Stowers (CPU), 2:01.02; 3. Isaac Sorensen (CCA), 2:02.59.

200 — 1. Kellan Harter (Grin), 22.09; 2. Rayce Heitman (Wmsbg), 22.50; 3. Carson Bruns (BC), 22.52.

400 hurdles — 1. Nathan Miller (CPU), 55.26; 2. Owen Von Ahsen (BC), 57.47; 3. Christopher Meyer (Ind), 57.56.

1,600 — 1. Tommy Tyynismaa (STC), 4:29.11; 2. Grady Olberding (MtV), 4:29.92; 3. Brick Kabela (Solon), 4:34.12.

400 relay — 1. Grinnell (Heishman, Ringler, Harter, Mahoney), 43.13; 2. Clear Creek Amana, 43.91; 3. Williamsburg, 44.20.

1,600 relay — 1. Williamsburg (Wetjen, Steckly, Hocker, Heitman), 3:24.98; 2. Solon, 3:25.37; 3. Center Point-Urbana, 3:28.37.

*meet record

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com