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Spots in state track and field meet on the line today

WEBSTER CITY – Drake Stadium and the blue oval – those two things will be on the minds of runners, jumpers and throwers from border to border and in all corners of the state today.

State Qualifying Meets will be held in all four classes. Webster City’s track and field teams will travel to Gilbert for a Class 3A meet, South Hamilton will make the short trip to Story City for a 2A competition, and the Northeast Hamilton boys’ squad will head north for a 1A meet hosted by Northwood-Kensett.

All three meets will get underway with the field events at 4 p.m. Running events will begin at 4:30 p.m.

In 2A and 3A, the top two finishers in each event will automatically qualify for the state meet, and the next best eight performances statewide will also advance. In 1A, only the event winner is guaranteed a spot in the state-meet field; the next best 12 statewide will also head to Des Moines for the May 21-23 meet.

All three area programs face their own sets of challenges against quality fields.

The Webster City boys’ team enters the state qualifier with two No. 1 seeds – senior high jumper Cal Zahn and senior 110-meter high hurdler Tanner Hoveland. The 4×100 relay – manned by Hoveland, Zahn, Payton Kannuan and Gavin Dinsdale – has the second-fastest time in the field.

Zahn in the 100 (third), the shuttle hurdle relay (third), Kannuan in the long jump (fourth) and the 4×200 relay (fourth) also have solid chances will quality performances.

With standout teams like Algona and Gilbert in the field, WCHS boys’ coach Tony Bussan knows nothing will come easy. But he says he’ll take a simple philosophy into the meet.

“If we approach this meet the way we approached the conference meet, we’re going to be very pleased,” he said. “As soon as you start worrying about things outside of your control, like the weather or the competition, that’s when you get into trouble.”

The WCHS girls’ team is expected to do well in the field events with freshman thrower Cassidy Nerland seeded first in the discus and second in the shot put. High jumper Hannah Myers is a No. 2 seed as well, and former 3A state runner-up long jumper Carrie Gerdes is the No. 4 seed.

Myers is also a contender in the 100 hurdles – she’s seeded third – as is two-time state medalist Allie Flaws in the 100 and 200 if she is healthy enough. Flaws hasn’t been on the track since she pulled up with a tight hamstring at the Boone Classic on April 30, but she is penciled into today’s lineup.

The South Hamilton girls’ and boys’ teams both face uphill battles with no events seeded in the top two. But third-seeded high jumper Alyssa Hegland has cleared 5-2 this year and has state meet experience. Caleb Olson and Devon Fisher have the third- and fourth-best 800 times entering the qualifier, and both are expected to be on the Hawks’ 4×800 relay that will put itself in position to advance with a solid run.

NEH will battle 11 other teams and has arguably the toughest road to snag automatic state bids.

Trojan seniors Nick Jeffers (discus and 400) and Kyle Pruismann (long jump and 400 low hurdles) appear to have the strongest shots at finishing their careers on the big stage.

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