Solon wins another relay, enters final day tied for 3A girls lead

Solon's Emma Bock nears the finish line in the Class 3A girls' distance medley relay at the state track and field meet at Drake Stadium in Des Moines on Friday. The Spartans won the event. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

Solon's Sophia Stahle comes in for the handoff to Kaia Holtkamp in the Class 3A girls' distance medley relay at the state track and field championships at Drake Stadium in Des Moines on Friday. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

DES MOINES — Sophia Stahle handed off the baton, but her sprinting duties hadn’t yet concluded.

She made a beeline from the finish-line area to the backstretch to urge anchor Emma Bock on.

“Emma is so strong mentally, and she wasn’t going to let us down,” Stahle said. “But every little bit (of support) helps.”

Bock held off an eye-popping anchor leg by Carlisle ace Ainsley Erzen to finish off Solon’s Class 3A girls’ distance medley relay championship at the state track and field meet Friday morning at Drake Stadium.

MaKinley Levin, Stahle and Kaia Holtkamp staked Bock to the lead, and the Spartans finished in 4:05.77. Anchored by Erzen’s 2:09 anchor, Carlisle went from eighth to a second-place clocking of 4:06.42.

“I was excited ... I love running against the best,” said Bock, who had a fine anchor herself of 2:18.

Erzen pulled within a couple of strides of Bock in the final curve, but Bock was able to hold on and finish Solon’s second relay win of the weekend.

Solon enters the final day in a tie for first place in the 3A girls’ standings, along with Carlisle and Dubuque Wahlert, with 26 points. The Spartans are favored in the 1,600 relay Saturday.

“We knew we had a lot of chances to do well in the relays,” Levin said. “We have them stacked up pretty well.”

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Holtkamp said, “Our coaches give us a say in what we run. I love that about our lineup.”

Levin and Stahle put the Spartans into the lead after their 200-meter legs, and when Holtkamp handed off to Bock, it was a 4-second margin over the field, 10 seconds over Carlisle.

“We knew (Erzen) was running, and Emma wanted us to tell her when she was coming up,” Levin said.

Marion’s Madison Prier was fourth in the 400-meter hurdles, in 1:06.68.

“I’m really excited,” she said. “I really wanted to attack the first 200.”

STATE TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS

At Des Moines

CLASS 3A GIRLS

Teams (through 10 events) — 1. (tie) Carlisle, Dubuque Wahlert and Solon 26, 4. Charles City 23, 5. Oskaloosa 20, 6. Ballard 19, 7. Keokuk 18, 8. Waverly-Shell Rock 17, Bondurant-Farrar 16, 10. (tie) Humboldt, Spencer and Winterset 14.

Shot put — 1. Jadan Brumbaugh (Mount Pleasant), 44-9; 2. Kendal Clark (Humboldt), 42-10 1/2; 3. Kelsey Fields (Creston), 42-9; 5. Ava Conrad (Solon), 39-6 3/4.

Long jump — 1. Isabelle Noring (Carlisle), 17-11 1/4; 2. Miracle Ailes (Keokuk), 17-11 1/4; 3. Maleah Walker (Oskaloosa), 17-10 1/2.

Distance medley relay — 1. Solon (Levin, Stahle, Holtkamp, Bock), 4:05.77; 2. Carlisle, 4:08.42; 3. Waverly-Shell Rock, 4:12.44.

800 relay — 1. Dubuque Wahlert (Yaklich, Wallace, McDonald, Steffen), 1:43.91; 2. Spencer, 1:44.64; 3. Pella, 1:44.94; 5. Decorah, 1:46.21; 7. Solon, 1:46.35; 8. Mount Vernon, 1:46.51.

400 hurdles — 1. Darci Wiseman (Winterset), 1:03.91; 2. Emma Zoet (Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley), 1:05.62; 3. Jerra Merchant (Spencer), 1:06.11; 4. Madison Prier (Marion), 1:06.68; 6. Alivia Schulte (West Delaware), 1:07.01; 7. JoJo Tyynismaa (South Tama), 1:07.24; 8. Emma Arnold (Cedar Rapids Xavier), 1:07.32.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com