The Knoxville Track and Field Squads will hit the road to Mount Pleasant for the State Qualifying meet tonight. This is the first time that either coach Eric Kellar and Michael Splavec can remember drawing away from Red Rock Rival Pella. This may give both teams a chance to qualify a few more events as Knoxville joins up with host Mount Pleasant, Clear Creek-Amana, Fairfield, Fort Madison, Keokuk, West Burlington Notre Dame, and Oskaloosa. Koby Higginbotham is the #1 seed in both the open hurdles events with his best time in the 110 highs a school record :13.94, and he is also the top seed in the 400 hurdles at :54.86. Higginbotham along with cousin Kaiden Smith are within striking distance in the high jump as Smith has a best height of six/five and Higginbotham at six/four. Yusef Gulley is in the top five seeds in the long jump with his best 21-3.75. Cael Irving is looking for a 3rd straight trip to the Blue Oval as he is a top two seed in the 400 with a top time of :51.10 and in the 800 as he is the 3rd seed at 2:01.72. One athlete that will not be in action tonight is Isaac Rankin, who was the top seed in both the 1600 and 3200 but has fallen ill and will be unable to compete. Boys Coach Eric Kellar tells KNIA/KRLS Sports just because his team drew away from the top teams in the state does not mean it will be easy…

Kellar: “We always tell the kids the same thing. It doesn’t matter we’ve got 5th at times and made state because of the competition. I think we can get 8-10 events in, so we’re excited for that.”

On the girls side, Coach Michael Splavec is looking forward to seeing what his team can do against runners and throwers that they do not see very often.

Splavec: “So it’s kind of an interesting draw that we see teams from that SE side of the state unless we get to the Blue Oval, and we’re just trying to figure out some events to see what has the best chance at qualifying.”

While Knoxville is not a top seed in any events, there are girls that on a good night could get into the top two to automatically qualify. Halle Baker, who has been nursing an injury, is the 4th seed in 100 and is the 4th seed in the 200 with a fast time of :26.87. Listen for interviews on any state qualifiers on a future Today’s Lely Radio Sports Page on KNIA/KRLS