Life in Class 2 has been a challenge for the Calvary Lutheran track and field teams.
That isn't necessarily a bad thing.
"I think it's been good because we've just had to step up," Calvary coach Kerri Morris said. "They've taken some hard knocks at some meets."
Including last week's sectional meet at South Callaway, where both 4x800-meter relay teams missed a spot at the state meet by one position and Reece Going came up just short in the 100-meter dash with a fifth-place result.
But Calvary will still be represented in two relays and five individual events today and Saturday in the Class 2 state track and field championships at Adkins Stadium.
Katy Allen and Sarah Johnson will be the busiest for the Calvary girls. Allen made it in the long jump and triple jump, while Johnson will compete alongside Allen in the long jump. Both will run in the 4x100-meter relay along with Andrea Stanford and Jordyn Mays.
Johnson was mainly a relay runner her first two seasons, but decided to add the long jump this season.
"Our jumpers have really come on," Morris said. "Sarah Johnson decided she wanted to try it. She was at that first practice meet and I think she jumped maybe high 14 and she was like, 'I don't know if I should do this.'"
Good thing she stuck with it.
That first jump in competition was 14 feet, 10.5 inches in March at Russellville. She leaped better than 16 feet less than a month later and reached 16-9.25 last week, which has her seeded second at state.
"Last week in the rain she and Katy handled the conditions well," Morris said. "She just had a monstrous jump that makes me think she might be capable of getting over 17."
Allen is seeded fourth at 16-1. The long jump is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday and the triple jump, which Allen is seeded fifth in, is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. today.
Calvary is seeded 16th in the 4x100 prelims, which is at 1:35 p.m. today.
Emma Homfeldt, a senior, will go for her third straight top-three finish in the 800-meter run at 1:45 p.m. Saturday. But she'll be after her first Class 2 state medal.
Homefeldt won the Class 1 state title last year with a personal best time of 2:23.08. She's seeded third at 2:28.70 with more than half the field recording seed times that are within four seconds of each other.
"There's a big pack in that range," Morris said. "The range is definitely smaller. Emma doesn't really back down from much and she knows it's tough and she's fought every race."
In front of Homfeldt in seeding are Cole Camp's Lainy Williams and Brookfield's Alexandra Sharp. Homfeldt finished runner-up to Williams two weeks ago at districts and last week at sectionals.
"The best thing we can say is let's get three chances to race her," Morris said. " She's hanging in there. We talked about that was probably a good thing for her. Step up and run with her from districts on."
Leading the way for the Lions is Going, who is seeded 12th in the 200-meter dash. The prelims are scheduled for 3:40 p.m. today.
"He's had a solid couple of years and I was greatly relieved to get him in there because sprints are so volatile," Morris said. "You have a good start, you have a bad start, it could mean the end of your season today or it could mean you move on."
Going has finished in the top five in the 200 the last two years in Class 1.
Going, along with Sam Felger, Noah Gledhill and Connor Parker, placed fourth in the 4x100-meter relay at sectionals last Saturday to earn a state spot.
The prelims will be run at 1:55 p.m. today.
Grant Going rounds out the state qualifiers for the Lions. Going, who's seeded 13th, is set to compete in the 800 at 3:15 p.m. today.
New Bloomfield's Caleb Distler enters the race seeded first and Eugene's Cameron Haeffner is seeded sixth.
South Callaway's Wyatt Hager will be one of the first area athletes in action today as he seeks a state medal for the second straight year in the pole vault. He's seeded second in the event, which begins at 9:30 a.m. today.
Fellow Bulldog Nick Mealy will compete in the javelin at 2 p.m. today as the No. 4 seed.
Tipton's Kodie Dick will begin his busy state meet at 12:20 p.m. today in the 100-meter dash prelims. He'll also run in the 400-meter run prelims at 2:30 p.m., the 200-meter dash prelims at 3:40 p.m. and in the 4x400-meter relay prelims at 5 p.m. He's seeded third in the 400.
Fellow Tipton Cardinal Dalton Weaver will compete in four events: 400, 4x400, long jump and triple jump. He enters the triple jump, which is at 2 p.m. Saturday, as the top seed.