By Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

The start of the state track and field meet is still a week away but the first step in earning a state title comes on Thursday.

State qualifying meets in all class get rolling on Thursday at 4 p.m. with spots at the state meet that runs May 18-20 at Des Moines Drake Stadium up for grabs.

Here is a breakdown of what regional meets for area teams.

Class 4A Region 5

At City High

Teams: City High, West High, Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Cedar Rapids Jefferson, Newton, Ottumwa, Cedar Rapids Prairie, Burlington. 

Who Qualifies?: The top two finishers in each event earn automatic berths to the state meet along with the next 12 best performances from all six 4A meets.

Team Title Chase: West High won a conference title last week, is a heavy favorite to win the district crown Thursday and will be in the mix for a state title next week. The Women of Troy enter with the top qualifying performance in 13 of 17 events.

Athlete to Watch: Bailey Nock pulled off the distance trifecta last week at the MVC divisional meet, winning the 800, 1,500 and 3,000. The West High junior will try to duplicate that effort on Thursday. Nock has the top time in Class 4A this season in both the 3,000 (10:00.13) and 1,500 (4:44.74) and has the second fastest time in the 800.

Event to Watch: Drake Relays champion Leah Dusterhoft enters as the prohibitive favorite and top seed in the discus with a mark of 130-1 but West High would like to double qualify in the event with junior Chandler Haight joining her teammate in the discus ring at Des Moines. Haight enters with the fourth best toss and while a ‘next 12 best’ berth is always a possibility Haight would like to avoid the drama and snag an automatic bid with a top two finish. City High senior Lucy Murphy has the second-best mark behind Dusterhoft at 125-3.

Don’t Miss This: Valerie Welch already owns top-10 all-time performances in both the 100 hurdles and long jump and will try to improve on those performances in the final two meets of her outstanding prep career. Welch has the best time in the state in the 100 hurdles this year at 14.34 and the second-best mark in the long jump at 18-10 ¼.

Breakdown: The quest for a state title begins on Thursday for West High. The Women of Troy are top seeded in 13 events and heavy favorites to win the team title but it’s all about pushing as much through as possible to the state meet.

City High will be led by Murphy in the throws and its relay groups. The Little Hawks have five relay teams that enter with top-three qualifying times. The City High 4×100, 4×200 and sprint medley teams all enter seeded second.

Class 3A Region 2

At Marion

Teams: Solon, Central DeWitt, Maquoketa, Marion, Mount Vernon, Dubuque Wahlert, West Delaware, Cedar Rapids Xavier.

Who Qualifies?: The top two finishers in each event earn automatic berths to the state meet along with the next eight best performances from all eight 3A meets.

Team Title Chase: Solon gets another shot at Mount Vernon after finishing runner-up to the Mustangs at last week’s WAMAC meet. Trying to spoil the rematch of Highway 1 rivals is Dubuque Wahlert and the Golden Eagles are more than capable of doing just that. Led by its Drake Relays’ champion 4×200 team Wahlert has five relay teams that enter Thursday top seeded.

Athlete to Watch: Erin Kerkhoff has done a little bit of everything for Solon over the past year. The versatile sophomore was a part of the Spartans’ state qualifying cross country team in the fall and has the fastest 100-meter time for Solon this spring. Kerkhoff has the fastest qualifying time in the 400 entering Thursday’s regional and is a member of the Spartans’ top-seeded 4×400 team. She has top-five qualifying times in the 100 and 200 but could be valuable on several Solon relay teams.

Event to Watch: Only three competitors in the high jump have cleared higher than 4-10 this season and two are from Solon. Senior Josie Durr is the top seed, clearing 5-6 while teammate Abby Smith has cleared 5-4 this year along with West Delaware senior Jamie Glanz.  

Don’t Miss This: The Dubuque Wahlert 4×200 team won the Drake Relays title last month clocking the 19th best time in state history and fastest time in the state this season at 1:42.24.

Breakdown: Just as it has all season Solon will rely on its balance as the Spartans attempt to qualify a lineup capable of scoring points at state next week. The Spartans have four top seeds as freshman Gabi Bullard has the top time in the 400 hurdles to join Kerkhoff (400), Durr (high jump) and the 4×400 team as top-seeded Spartans.

Solon has top-three qualifying marks in 11 events including six of seven relays.

Class 3A Region 6

At Pella 

Teams: Clear Creek Amana, Benton Community, Grinnell, Knoxville, Oskaloosa, Pella, South Tama, Williamsburg.  

Who Qualifies?: The top two finishers in each event earn automatic berths to the state meet along with the next eight best performances from all eight 3A meets.

Team Title Chase: Defending 3A runner-up Pella is the top seed in seven events and is a heavy favorite to claim the regional title. Benton Community enters with the top performance in six events including three relays.  

Athlete to Watch: Karsyn Stratton will look to extend a strong freshman season by reaching the state meet in her first regional meet. Stratton has the third best qualifying mark in the long jump but will also be a factor in relays. The freshman ran on the Clippers 4×400 team that posted the third best time among district teams and was on the sprint medley team that posted the fourth fastest time entering regionals.

Event to Watch: The top opportunity for Clear Creek Amana to qualify a relay for state may come in the final event of the night. The Clippers 4×400 squad has the third fastest time coming in but is nearly six seconds slower than second-place Grinnell.

Don’t Miss This: Benton Community and Pella could offer state meet previews in a trio of relays events on Thursday as both teams boast top-five times in Class 3A this season in three separate relays. The top matchup could come in the shuttle hurdle where Benton has the 2nd best time in 3A at 1:06.26 and Pella is third in 3A this year at 1:06.33.

Breakdown: Pella and Benton Community combine to have the top qualifying mark in 13 of 19 events with Knoxville owning the top performance in four thanks in part to Katie Keitges (800, 1,500 leader).

Class 2A Region 8

At Tipton

Teams: Regina, West Branch, Camanche, Columbus, Highland, Louisa-Muscatine, Mediapolis, North Cedar, Northeast, Tipton, Wapello, Wilton.  

Who Qualifies?: The top two finishers in each event earn automatic berths to the state meet along with the next eight best performances from all eight 2A meets.

Team Title Chase: North Cedar has four relay teams with top-five times in Class 2A this season and has visions of a strong state meet appearance. First the Knights must take care of business on Thursday where they are favorites to claim a team title.

Athlete to Watch: With a trip to the Drake Relays and a RVC title in the 400 meters Paige Miller has already had a season to remember. The West Branch senior can add to that in a big way on Thursday. Miller has the second fastest time in 2A in the 400 hurdles this season and is the top seed in the event Thursday. Miller leads the West Branch shuttle hurdle and 4×200 relay teams that enter districts with the top qualifying time and is a member of the Bears’ 4×400 team that is seeded second behind 2A-leading North Cedar.  

Event to Watch: North Cedar has run the fastest time in 2A this season in the sprint medley relay at 1:51.66 and has a nearly five-second cushion on every team in 2A Region 8. The second automatic spot is up for grabs with Highland holding less than a second advantage over Regina in qualifying times. Both Highland and Regina ran their best times of the season in the event last week with the Regina foursome of Madeline Adam, Elizabeth Klesner, Emma Corkery and Grace Swenning clocking a 1:56.97.

Don’t Miss This: The final event of the night will be worth the wait as the two of the top 4×400 teams in Class 4A square off for a district title. North Cedar has the fastest time in 2A this season at 4:03.17 while West Branch has run the fifth fastest time at 4:08.92.

Breakdown: A young West Branch team will get its first crack at a regional meet on Thursday against a strong but familiar field that features six River Valley Conference teams.

Swenning leads Regina with top-five qualifying marks in both the 200 and 400.