The opportunity to compete on Drake Stadium’s famed Blue Oval, or in the field events nearby, will be there for the taking when Iowa preps compete in qualifying meets Thursday.
Perry will travel to Denison-Schleswig for the Class 3A Region 1 meet. They will be joined by the host Monarchs as well at Atlantic, Carroll, Glenwood, Greene County, Harlan and Sergeant Bluff-Luton.
Woodward-Granger and the Woodward Academy boys will travel to host Panorama for the Class 2A Region 6 meet. Also in action will be AC/GC, Des Moines Christian, Interstate-35, Madrid, Ogden, South Central Calhoun, Van Meter and West Central Valley.
At both site the requirements to advance, in any of the 19 events, will be the same for both boys and girls: Finish first or second and you are in, as the top two placers in each of the eight regions (in both classes) move on. That leaves eight spots in each event, and those are awarded to the eight next-best results statewide.
For example, a runner in the 100 who finishes third may not advance if their are eight swifter times scattered across the state. It also means that some regional meets might be “loaded” in certain events, say, the girls 400, in which runners 3-4-5 might all advance. Those not finishing in the top two will have to wait until Friday morning to learn their fate.
For Perry, they enter the meet with nine boys events ranked in the top five among those competing in Denison. Reece Dunlap is seeded second in the 200 (22.27 seconds) and fourth in both the 100 (11.2) and 400 (50.76), with Brandon Kenyon the two-seed in the 800 (2 minutes, 2.48 seconds.)
The Bluejay sprint medley (1:37.22) and distance medley (3:48.17) are both seeded third. The 4×200 and 4×400 are four-seeds, at 1:35.1 and 3:28.55, respectively, with the 4×800 (8:42.4) ranked fifth.
The Jayette distance medley is seeded second, at 4:40.39, but will have to perform at their best, as Harlan, Atlantic and Carroll are all within 1.05 seconds of stealing a guaranteed spot.
Grace Stewart is seeded fourth in the 3000 (12:06.72) and Sid Vancil fourth in the 800 (2:30.42), with the 4×800 team a four-seed at 10:45.67.
The real powerhouse is the Panorama girls squad, which has a better-than-even chance of qualifying 8-10 events.
Devyn Kemble is the top-seed in the 400 (59.9) and 800 (2:23.93) and is fifth in both the 200 (27.13) and 400 low hurdles (1:12.47).
Morgan Johnk is second in the 100 hurdles (16 seconds) and is tops in the high jump with a clearance of 5 feet, five inches. Lydia Knapp leads the discus at 123’4, with Bailey Beckman second in the long jump at 16’10.
Brianna Hoffman is the fourth seeded runner in the 1500 (5:20.62) and 3000 (11:54.95), with the Panthers entering the meet with the fastest times in the sprint medley (1:54.74), 4×400 (4:16.25) and 4×800 (10:30.73).
The Panthers are second, in 1:11.67, in the shuttle hurdle, are third, in 52.68, in the 4×100 and are fourth in both the 4×200 (1:52.09) and distance medley (4:31.64).
The challenges are far greater for the Panorama boys, save in the discus, where school record holder Matthew Webner (169’9-1/2) and Dan Jensen (148’6) are second and third, respectively, behind Madrid standout Coy Kirkpatrick (186’1). Kirkpatrick was second at state last spring, with Webner 11th.
Jensen is fifth in the shot put (48’7), with Luke South the four-seed in the 400 low hurdles in 59.97.
The Panther boys are seeded fourth in the 4×200 (1:37.32) and fifth in both the 4×100 (46.41) and sprint medley (1:40.13).
The Woodward-Granger boys hopes hinge on a pair of fourth-seeded relays, as the Hawks will look to pull a surprise in the sprint medley (1:40.12) and the 4×800 (8:48.68).
Three W-G girls events drew top-five seeds, led by Emma Drake, who is third in the 800 in 2:28.31. The 4×800 in seeded third, in 10:36.84, with Emma Buckman the five-seed in the discus at 101’6-1/2.
