2024 State Qualifying Information

State Qualifying Meet – All Classes Coaches’ Information 

All state qualifying meets will be co-educational meets. Admission is $6.00 for K-12 students and adults. There will be no charge for a child who is not yet in school. 

The 2024 qualifying meets will be held for all classes on Thursday, May 9, 2024. The rain date for all qualifying meets will be the following day, excluding Sunday. All qualifying meets will start at 4 PM with field events. Running events will begin at 4:45 PM. There will be a 30-minute break between the boys’ 4×800 meter relay and the girls’ shuttle hurdle relay and a 20 minute break between the boys’ 800 meter run and the girls’ 200 meter dash for Class 4A and Class There will not be a 20-minute break for Class 2A and Class 1A. If the rain date is used, meet manager determines starting time. 

The Board of Control of the IHSAA/Board of Directors of the IGHSAU has determined that races at the State Qualifying meets will run to the common finish. Races will not be reversed to gain a wind advantage even in fully automatic timing is available for the reversed race. 

Qualifying Meet Assignment: Your school will be assigned to a qualifying meet based on geographic location. This assignment cannot be changed. 

Only two contestants may compete in an individual event from a member. One relay from each school may compete. 

Scoring: Eight places will score at the qualifying meet scoring shall be 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 for relay events and individual events. 

Awards: 

IHSAA: Medals for the first eight places in all events. Qualifying meet team champions will be awarded with a qualifying champion banner.
IGHSAU: Medals for first eight places in all events. Qualifying meet team champions will be awarded a qualifying meet champion banner. 

Order of events for all qualifying meets is listed for your This is the running order for all qualifying meets. 

Order of Events
Girls Running Events First, Followed by Boys 

All Field Events
High Jump (G/B)
Discus (B/G)
Shot (G/B/WC)
Shot Wheelchair (B/G)
Long Jump (B/G) 

Running Events
800m sprint medley relay
800 meter wheelchair
3000/3200 meter run
4 X 800 meter relay
30 Minute Break
Shuttle hurdle relay
100 meter dash
100 meter wheelchair
1600m distance medley relay
400 meter dash
400 meter wheelchair
4 X 200 meter relay
100/110 meter hurdles
800 meter run
20 Minute Break (3A & 4A)
200 meter dash
200 meter wheelchair
400 meter hurdles
1500/1600 meter run
4 X 100 meter relay
4 X 400 meter relay 

State Qualifying Meet Information 

Qualifying meet entries will be submitted online. Information for submitting qualifying meet entries will be communicated to member schools the week of Monday, April 29, 2024. The deadline for Qualifying Meet entries and declarations will be 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, May 8. All scratches or substitutions must be sent by email to the Qualifying Meet host no later than 10:00 a.m. on the day of the meet, Thursday, May 9, 2024. No substitutions will be allowed after that time. Scratches after that time will count as an event. All times and efforts will be performances in established meets and should be recorded in metric times or converted metric times for the running events and standard measurements for the field events. All entries shall be submitted as FAT times. All state qualifying meet seed times need to be verified through Bound. Any time discrepancies (faster or slower than what is posted on Bound) protested before 1 pm on Thursday, May 9, 2024, will result in “No Time” seed time. No split times are allowed for individual event seed times. 

Upon receipt of the entries, all entries will be ranked from first to last in each event according to performances. Heats and sections as well as lane assignments will be drawn from this information. The IHSAA/IGHSAU will oversee the ranking of the entries and placement of athletes into heat sections, lanes and flights. State qualifying meet managers will reseed an event if pre-meet scratches or substitutions Substitute entries will have a “No Time” seed time. 

Field events will be in flights. Throwing order will be as stated in the Track and Field Rules Book. For the long jump and throwing events, each competitor will attempt one trial at a time through the flight order, similar to that format used at the state track and field meet. If a competitor needs to be excused to participate in another event during either the preliminary or final round, please reference Rule 6, Section 2, Article 3. Nine athletes will make the finals. 

Girls: The starting height in the high jump for Class 3A and 4A is 4’6” and 4’4ʺ in Class 1A and 2A. The bar is raised two inches each time to five feet, and then one inch at a time. 

Boys: The starting height in the high jump for Class 3A and 4A is 5’6” and 5’4” for Class 1A and 2A. The bar is raised two inches each time to six feet and then one inch after six feet starting heights may be adjusted by Meet Manager in cases of inclement weather/poor jumping conditions. 

In events run in sections against time, the last section will contain the best performers, the prior sections the next best contestants, etc. 

Since all events are finals, sections will be filled by entry performances. The final section of each event will have the best entry performances. 

The highest ranked contestant will be placed in the lane in the center of the track. Lanes will be filled by alternating either side of the number-one ranked athlete. This will be (4-5-3-6-2-7-1-8) according to the number of individuals or teams in the heat and the lanes available. 

Relay personnel may be changed after the meet has begun. Substitutes must come from the eight names on the original relay card. 

Each school will be given copies of the heat and lane assignments before the meet begins. Each school will also be given a copy of results prior to leaving the meet site. Any discrepancies should be addressed prior to leaving the qualifying meet site. 

For additional, state qualifying meet information, please consult the Track and Field State Qualifying Meet Manual. 

Track Complimentary Admissions 

Any superintendent, principal, or athletic director who present their current Administrator identification card will be admitted free along with one accompanied guest. It shall be understood that no members of the families of an administrator or coach shall be admitted free unless they qualify in one of the other. 

Any bona fide member of the press, radio, and television media attending in the official capacity of reporter or (This does not include representative of school paper or year book.) 

One team bus driver. 

Qualifying Meet Expense Reimbursement – There is no reimbursement for the track and field qualifying meet. 

State Meet Qualification 

In Class 4A, the top two place winners in each event plus the next twelve (12) best performances statewide from qualifying meet place winners (1st – 8th) will advance to the state meet. Class 3A and Class 2A, the top two place winners in each event plus the next eight (8) performances statewide from qualifying meet place winners (1st – 8th) will advance to the state meet. In Class 1A, the top place winner in each event plus the next fourteen (14) best performances statewide from qualifying meet place winners will advance to the state meet. If there are ties, the highest qualifying meet place winner (1st – 8th) will be the qualifier. If the tie still remains, the school name, as printed in the IHSAA/IGHSAU Directory, will be used as the tie breaker. The last school name alphabetically will become the qualifier. There will be no more than 24 qualifiers in any event.