WEBSTER CITY – With her soaring early-season heaves that sent her nearly to the top of Class 3A in the shot put, it would probably make sense if Cassidy Nerland had spent the last week preparing for that event and that event only in the lead-up to the state track and field meet.

She wants to contend for shot put gold, there’s no doubt. But it’s not the only medal she’s seeking.

Nerland, a Webster City sophomore, will head into Friday’s shot put competition as a favorite to medal, but first she’ll set her sights on this morning’s discus, set for 9 a.m. at Drake Stadium in Des Moines. It will be one of four events in which the Lynx girls’ team is entered into today, while the boys’ squad will take part in two.

Yes, Nerland’s best shot put toss of 41 feet, 4 inches ranks second in the class this season. But she’s also among the top seven in the discus with a launch of 123-7.

One medal would be nice. Two would be even better.

“She’s been throwing the discus very well and we’ve spent equal amounts of time with the shot and discus,” WCHS girls’ head coach Clint Howard said. “She’s been sitting in the top six or seven in the discus most of the season and I think that’s definitely attainable.”

Nerland won’t be the only Lynx female with medals on her mind over the next three days on and round the blue oval.

“We’re definitely not going there with the mindset that this is all gravy and a field trip,” Howard said. “Is it realistic to say we’re going to place in (all nine events)? Probably not, but that’s sure the goal.”

Senior sprinter Allie Flaws will begin her trek to what she hopes will be a memorable week with a pair of performances today. She’ll run the 100-meter dash prelims at 10:40 a.m. and the 200 prelims with teammate Marisa Garrels at 12:40 p.m.

Flaws was fourth in the 100 two years ago and eighth as a freshman back in 2013. She would like nothing more than to get back to Saturday’s finals one more time.

“The bar is set high for Allie with her past and I know that’s the goal,” Howard said.

Haley Flaws will also go to work today in the high jump at 11:30 a.m.

In addition to Friday’s shot put, WCHS will also have Kenzie Garvey in the 100 hurdles, Abbey Ferrari in the long jump, and the 4×100 (Kali Dawson, Garvey, Haley Flaws and Allie Flaws) and 4×200 (Dawson, Zoey Woodle, Haley Flaws and Allie Flaws) relays.

Garvey is seeded 17th, Ferrari 23rd, the 4×100 ninth and the 4×200 24th. WCHS boys’ head coach Tony Bussan takes four events to Des Moines for his final few days in charge. The highly successful track and cross country coach is retiring at the end of the school year.

On the docket for the Lynx boys’ team today will be Noah Perfect in the 100 prelims at 10:55 a.m. and the shuttle hurdle relay (Ty Schnathorst, Zane Carter, Jordan Tanner and Fernando Martinez) in the prelims around 2:20 p.m.

Perfect has been defying the odds quite a bit over the past month. He was the third seed at the North Central Conference meet, but won gold. He went into last week’s state qualifier seeded sixth and wound up in third and No. 9 out of the 24 state entrants.

“He competed well and he’s better when he’s head-to-head with people because he responds well,” Bussan said of Perfect. “He runs to whatever level of competition he seems to be in and that would be a good thing at state.”

The hurdlers were a surprise state entrant to some; they’ll need another outstanding performance to get through the opening round.

“They’ll have to run a season’s best time to have a chance at the finals,” Bussan said.

Payton Kannuan will return to the long jump pit for the second straight year on Friday morning. He’s set his personal best in each of the last three meets and has inched to within shouting distance of 21 feet. He’ll most likely need to get there to be a factor in the medal hunt.

“Payton is jumping as well as he ever has, so you’d expect he’d go down there and set a PR,” Bussan said.

Kannuan and Perfect will be joined by Tanner and Carter in the 4×100 prelims Friday afternoon. Their best time on the season (44.11 seconds) ranks 10th in the class.

“The 4×100 has a good chance of making the finals,” Bussan said. “We know if we hit the sticks and run well, we’ll be in the mix.”