GRUNDY CENTER – It takes a runner’s best – everything he has in the tank – to reach the state meet.

Those not willing to lay it on the line need not apply.

South Hamilton’s Jared Fisher and Logan Peters spent every ounce of energy they had on the track at Grundy Center High School on Thursday and their rewards were spots in this week’s state track meet inside Drake Stadium in Des Moines.

Fisher placed second in the 400-meter dash and Peters took the silver in the 1,600 at a Class 2A State Qualifying Meet, cementing their spots in the large field.

Fisher circled the track in a new personal-best time of 51.99 seconds.

“We knew Jared had a chance. He went out and he was determined,” South Hamilton head coach Darrell Paulsen said. “He came around the (final) corner in third and went after it.”

Sitting in second at the halfway mark of the mile, Peters, just a freshman, pushed the pace to create a gap between himself and the large pack that trailed. He maintained that edge until the final homestretch and was able to hold off the charging runners over the final 50 meters to finish in 4:42.16, a new PR by five seconds and just slightly off the school record time of 4:41.30 set by Bret Greve back in 1990.

“Logan ran the race of his life,” Paulsen said. “You could tell he was starting to die, but the kid hung on. He and Jared were both so happy because they knew they had automatically qualified.”

South Hamilton added a pair of relays – the 4×800 and 1,600 medley both finished third – on Friday when the remainder of the field was completed from the best of the non-automatic qualifiers.

Peters, Josiah Brown and the Fisher twins, Jared and Devon, will man the 4×800. Drake Thompson and Logan Klemp will run the 200 legs of the medley, while Jared Fisher will take on the 400 and Devon Fisher the 800.

Devon Fisher was solid on the anchor of both relays on Thursday. He turned in a 2:01.80 split on the 4×800 and a 2:02.00 split on the medley.

“I felt pretty good that we could get the 4×800 in,” Paulsen said of the overnight wait. “Everything we did we improved on, so that was great.”

The South Hamilton girls’ squad was unable to qualify any individual or relay on Thursday.

The state meet will open with the 2A/3A session on Thursday morning at 9 a.m.