Greene County goes to Manson and Paton-Churdan travels to Madrid for Iowa high school track & field Coed State Qualifying Meets today. The Rams are in Class 2A and the Rockets are a 1A program. In 2A, all first and second place finishers in each event are automatic qualifiers for the May 20-21-22 Coed State Meet at Drake Stadium in Des Moines. In 1A, only the winner of the event is an automatic State qualifier. The field of 24 in each event is filled with the best performances statewide that did not automatically qualify.

Derek Merk is the head coach of the Greene County girls’ team, and he told Raccoon Valley Radio he feels the Rams are ready to go. “We have a lot of confidence in the girls and what they’ll be able to do. We’ve talked a lot about the individual events they’re in, and spent a lot of time on relays breaking down the handoffs, and covered race strategy for the longer distance races. I think we’ve done everything we can to this point to have them ready to go compete at the highest level they’re capable of competing at.”

Start time for all meets across the state is 4 p.m. No tickets will be sold at the gate for any of today’s meets. Tickets must be purchased online in advance at the websites of the Iowa High School Athletic Association and Iowa Girls High School Athletic Association.