2026 State Track and Field Qualifying Assignments Announced

In just under a month, high school track and field athletes from across the state will converge at Drake University in Des Moines for the 2026 Iowa High School State Track & Field Championships. They have to earn their spot there though, and the IHSAA and IGHSAU recently released the team sites and assignments for 2026 Iowa High School Track & Field State Qualifying Meets.

Back on March 26, the host sites for the coed state qualifying meets for classes 1A through 4A were released, with Saint Ansgar hosting one of the ten 1A meets, and Clear Lake hosting on of the eight 3A meets. Now, all of the other area schools know where they’ll be headed on Thursday May 14 for their chance to earn a trip to the Blue Oval.

In class 1A, Belmond-Klemme, Lake Mills, North Iowa, Northwood-Kensett, Saint Ansgar and West Hancock will be competing in Saint Ansgar.

In Class 2A, Central Springs and Garner-Hayfield-Ventura will be headed to Hudson, while Forest City and Osage will be at North Fayette Valley.

In Class 4A, Mason City will be at Iowa City High

All state qualifying meets are coed meets and are scheduled for Thursday May 14. Field events will begin at 4 PM and track events will begin at 4:45 PM.

The top two finishers in each event at each location will automatically qualify for the 2026 Iowa High School State Track & Field Championships, scheduled for May 21-23 at Drake Stadium in Des Moines. Additionally, the next 12 best statewide marks in class 4A, 8 best marks in class 2A and 3A, and the 14 best marks in class 1A will also advance to state, regardless of assignment. There will be no more than 24 qualifiers in an event.

Full Local Assignments:

1A Saint Ansgar: Belmond-Klemme, Bishop Garrigan, Clear Lake Classical, GTRA, Lake Mills, Newman Catholic, North Iowa, North Union, Northwood-Kensett, Riceville, Rockford, Saint Ansgar, West Fork, West Hancock

2A Hudson: Alburnett, Anamosa, Aplington-Parkersburg, Cascade, Central Springs, Columbus Catholic, Dike-New Hartford, Garner Hayfield Ventura, Hudson, Jesup, Monticello, Union Community

2A North Fayette Valley: Beckman Catholic, Crestwood, Denver, Forest City, MFL MarMac, New Hampton, North Fayette Valley, Oelwein, Osage, Postville, Sumner-Fredericksburg, Waukon

3A Clear Lake: Charles City, Clear Lake, Decorah, Hampton-Dumont-CAL, Humboldt, Independence, Nevada, Webster City

4A Iowa City High: Cedar Rapids Washington, Iowa City High, Iowa City Liberty, Iowa City West, Johnston, Mason City, Ottumwa, Prairie