Solon girls’ state track opening day is anything but nightmarish

DES MOINES — Nerves? A touch of dread?

No, Kaia Holtkamp suffered from worse.

“I had nightmares about this,” the Solon High School senior said. “I had nightmares about getting passed, letting my teammates down, letting myself down.”

Ainsley Erzen will do that to you.

“She intimidates me,” Holtkamp admitted. “She’s so good.”

But Solon’s first three runners — Meghan O’Neill, Gracie Federspiel and Anna Quillin — gave Holtkamp enough of a cushion, and Holtkamp anchored in a career-best 2:16.7 to push the Spartans to the Class 3A 3,200-meter relay title at the state track and field championships Thursday afternoon at Drake Stadium.

Solon finished in 9 minutes, 34.41 seconds. A University of Arkansas recruit, Erzen ran 2:09.2 to move Carlisle (9:41.60) up in the pack. Mount Vernon was third in 9:46.47.

O’Neill put the Spartans in front with a 2:24.2 anchor leg, and they raced from ahead the rest of the way. Federspiel ran 2:21.9, Quillin 2:31.2.

“We knew Erzen was going to anchor, so we had to build a lead as a group,” O’Neill said.

Federspiel said, “Meghan did a great job of pulling away. She really put us into a good spot. This is kind of unbelievable. It’s awesome.”

Then came Holtkamp’s anchor.

“I ran 2:16?” she said. “It felt like 2:30. Meghan was great before the race, she’s so calm.”

Solon rocketed into the 3A girls’ lead with 26 points with five events complete. Carlisle is second with 16, followed by pre-meet favorite Adel ADM (14) and Ballard (13).

The Spartans also got a 3-4 finish from Emma Bock and Federspiel in the 400 and fourth place from Kayla Young in the 3,000.

A very good start.

“Getting some points like that to start, I think it gives us a positive mindset,” Young said. “I wanted to have an impact on the team.”

Western Dubuque’s Audrey Biermann repeated as the 400-meter champion, setting a 3A record in 54.56 seconds.

That ranks No. 5 all-time in Iowa.

“It’s the best feeling in the world,” she said. “I knew this was going to be my last open 400, and I wanted to prove to myself what I was more than capable of doing.”

Biermann was running a stride ahead of Erzen at the front of the homestretch before pulling away.

“I told myself it was now or never,” Biermann said. “The adrenaline kicked in a little. (Erzen) had run so well (in the 4x800), and she was going to dig deep in the 400. So I had to dig deeper.”

Julia Alberts of Decorah was third in the discus with a fling of 134 feet, 11 inches.

Thursday results: Class 3A girls

Top 10 teams (through 5 events) — 1. Solon 26, 2. Carlisle 16, 3. Adel ADM 14, 4. Ballard 13, 5. (tie) Mount Vernon, Mount Pleasant and Western Dubuque 10, 8. (tie) Charles City and DeWitt Central 9, 10. MOC-Floyd Valley 8.5.

Discus — 1. Jadan Brumbaugh (Mount Pleasant), 151-10; 2. Katelyn Lappe (Bondurant-Farrar), 137-10; 3. Julia Alberts (Decorah), 134-11; 5. Libby Dix (Mount Vernon), 128-1.

High jump — 1. Soren Maricle (DeWitt Central), 5-6; 2. Keely Collins (Charles City), 5-6; 3. London Warmuth (Adel ADM), 5-6; T-8. Bliss Beck (Clear Creek Amana), 5-0.

3,000 — 1. Paityn Noe (Ballard), 10:22.05; 2. Emily Haverdink (MOC-Floyd Valley), 10:54.23; 3. Geneva Timmerman (Adel ADM), 11:04.35; 4. Kayla Young (Solon), 11:08.56.

3,200 relay — 1. Solon (O’Neill, Federspiel, Quillin, Holtkamp), 9:34.41; 2. Carlisle, 9:41.60; 3. Mount Vernon, 9:46.47.

400 — 1. Audrey Biermann (Western Dubuque), 54.56; 2. Ainsley Erzen (Carlisle), 55.50; 3. Emma Bock (Solon), 57.09; 4. Gracie Federspiel (Solon), 58.08.

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