Tigers heading to State B Track Meet in Rapid City

There is a new format for the 2021 Class B high school track and field state meet!

It will consist of the Top 24 qualifiers in each of the 19 girls and boys events recorded during the season up to and including the various regional meets. So when it is all said and done, Ipswich will send 13 girls and 12 boys to the State B track and field meet scheduled in Rapid City on May 28-29. Some of them are involved in only one event, such as the girls' pole vault, which will feature three Lady Tigers among the total 24 qualifiers in that event. And what about yet another IHS Lady Tiger pole vaulter who would have qualified among the Top 24.

"I do think we should mention that Kathryn Kilber also was in the Top 24 as well," Coach Todd Thorson said. "But the rules state that you need to be in the Top 24 and you can only take three per event and she had the fourth highest mark on our team. They do not allow substitutions at state, so we can't even take her as an alternate. She had an outstanding year for the Tigers."

Don't worry! Despite cases like this, it appears that there won't be a shortage of athletes under this weekend's new format. (There are no fewer than 81 Class B schools that have at least one athlete going to state.) But as is nearly always true some relay work-horses from various teams might even be spread a little too thin and overworked. Take Emily DeRaad from Ipswich for an example of that nice problem to have! "As of right now, we aren't going to run Emily in the 800 because she is running the Medley and the 4x400," says Coach Todd Thorson. "If she runs the 800, she would run two 800s and a 400 in three of the last four events." And Ty Kadlec and Carson Gohl will be particularly busy for the IHS boys who will be entering four events apiece, as will be Paige Mehlberg and Ashley Ptacek for the girls (and Emily DeRaad if they go that way).

"We hope to be in the Top Six this weekend and be on the podium as a team," Thorson concluded. "Warner is ranked first and Viborg second by seeding. The boys are ranked seventh or eighth, but I feel like we can do better then that. The girls are realistically going to have to compete extremely well to be in the Top Six."

See page 6 for a complete list of the Tigers who will be attending the State B, including their specific events.