State track schedule, attendance changes

Published by editor on Wed, 05/05/2021 - 2:01pm

BCLUW makes a handoff in the 4x800 relay at the 2019 state track and field meet. While capacity for the 2021 state track and field meet at Drake Stadium has increased from the Drake Relays earlier this year, tickets are still limited to two per state qualifier, per a release from the IHSAA/IGHSAU earlier this week. (Mid-America Publishing file photo)

By:

Jake Ryder

sports@grundyregister.com

The Iowa High School Athletic Association and Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union announced jointly on Tuesday several changes to this year’s state track and field meet, still scheduled for Thursday, May 20 through Saturday, May 22 at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.

The main change will be to Saturday’s final day, with Class 2A and 3A finals running at 9 a.m. and the 1A and 4A finals starting at 2 p.m. in a split session format similar to how the meet is run on Thursday and Friday.

The facility will be cleared after each session, including Saturday’s finals. Seating will be in unassigned, socially-distanced pods and masks will be required.

All qualifying athletes and relay alternates will be allowed two spectator tickets, and any remaining tickets will be allotted to the participating schools. The ticketing process will be in place for the main stadium as well as the throws field to the north where the shot put and discus will compete.

As a result, the cap on attendance is expected to be much higher than the 3,000 spectators that were allowed each day of the Drake Relays, though no specific number has been mentioned by Drake Stadium and the Polk County Health Department.

According to an IHSAA and IGHSAU joint release, the associations “will work through member school administrators following State Qualifying Meets on May 13 to arrange initial ticketing procedures for qualifiers and their alternates.” And ticketing will be done through promo codes for HomeTown Ticketing, which provides ticketing services for the IHSAA.