Area track teams competed Thursday night at Dallas Kray Track in Story City as they looked to punch their tickets to the state meet with the top two in each event automatically qualifying for state.
Grundy Center, Iowa Falls-Alden, South Hardin and Clarion-Goldfield-Dows competed at the state qualifying meet. The four area teams combined to produce multiple state qualifiers.
One of those qualifiers was South Hardin’s Peyton Welch in the long jump after recording a personal-best mark of 21 feet, 2.25 inches. Welch says he had to readjust after scratching his first attempt.
“Feels great,” says Welch. “I scratched the first one, so there’s a little bit of pressure on that second one, so I just got a safe one down in the third one. Just let it go and got 21, so happy about that.”
Another qualifier was South Hardin’s Ayda Eller, who won the 400-meter dash with a time of 58.84. Eller says the event has been her main focus throughout the season, and qualifying for state was the result of consistent work.
“The 400 is mainly my main goal and my focus on during this season,” says Eller. “I’ve done it almost every single meet, so just trying to get that time down, trying to get the placement down for this time exactly, this exact meet, like a lot of hard work has gone into it. All the hard work is finally paying off, and it’s nice to see it. It’s a big pain relief off the shoulders, but it’s nice, and I love the race, and it’s a good competition.”
For all other automatic state qualifiers from the meet in Story City, click here.
The state meet will be Thursday, May 21 through Saturday, May 23.
