TORRINGTON – Wheatland and Guernsey-Sunrise kicked off their track season last weekend, with Chugwater and Glendo slated to kick off action this weekend and every athlete will start aiming for a spot at the state meet, with prequalifying standards on their minds.

Standards are set at the beginning of each season to allow athletes more ways to get into the state meet. If an athlete can surpass a specific mark set at the beginning of the season at any qualifying event throughout the season, that athlete earns a spot at the state track meet. The prequalifying time comes from the average times over the past three years.

Competitors can prequalify for the state meet in multiple events, but can only compete in four events during the postseason. Whatever events someone competes in at regionals is the events they will run at the state tournament, if they have prequalified or finish in a good enough spot at regionals.

When it comes to relays, multiple relays can prequalify for the state meet, with any combination of athletes from the same team. If a school qualifies three different combinations of one relay, then the school decides which relay team to field at regionals and move on to state.

Here is a look at the prequalifying standards for the two classes that Wheatland (3A), Guernsey-Sunrise, Glendo and Chugwater (1A) compete in.

3A Boys

The 3A boys will need to run an 11.53 in the 100-meter dash, a 23.42 in the 200 or a 51.94 in the 400. Moving up in distances, the 800 has a qualifying time of 2:02.22, while the 1,600 and 3,200 will need times of 4:42.21 and 10:30.42, respectively.

In the hurdles a time of 16.23 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles or a time of 42.79 seconds in the 300 hurdles for a spot in Casper.

Moving to the field events, in order to prequalify for the state meet, an athlete needs to have a 20-foot, 7-inch effort in the long jump or a 41-foot, 5-inch effort in the triple jump. In the high jump, 6 feet is the bench mark to clear, while 12 feet, 1 inch is the mark in the pole vault. For the throwers, the mark is 46 feet, 11 inches in the shot put and 137 feet, 6 inches in the discus.

For relays, the 400-meter relay mark is 45.96 seconds, while the time to beat is 3:37.49 in the 1600-meter relay and 8:50.68 in the 3200-meter relay.

3A Girls

The 3A female sprinters will be aiming for a time of less than 13.27 seconds in the 100-meter dash, but they can also get in with times shorter than 27.42 seconds in the 200 or 62.72 seconds in the 400. The mark to beat in the 800 jumps up to 2:28.10 in the 800, while it sits at 5:38.33 in the mile or 12:34.99 in the two-mile.

For the hurdlers, Wheatland’s girls will need to surpass a time of 16.86 seconds in the 100 or a time of 49.03 seconds in the 300.

The clock needs to show less than 53.57 seconds in the 400-meter relay, while the teams of four are required to beat times of 4:21.27 in the 1600-meter relay or 10:53.15 in the 3200-meter relay to punch their ticket to Casper early.

In the jumps, a girl in 3A needs to clear 16 feet, 1 inch in the long jump or 33 feet, 2 inches in the triple jump. The mark sits at 4 feet, 11 inches in the high jump, compared to 9 feet, 3 inches in the pole vault. For the throwers, they need to stretch the tape farther than 34 feet, 7 inches in the shot put or 108 feet in the discus.

1A Boys

The 1A boys know what they need to do to punch their ticket to the state tournament before competing in the regional meet. The marks to beat are laid out for the track in the 100 (11.96), 200 (24.08) and 400 (53.96). Prequalifying in the 800 requires a time of 2:07.96, while the mark to beat in the 1600 is 4:58.14 and in the 3200 it is 11:12.78.

Hurdlers will need to beat 18.05 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles and 44.45 seconds in the 300-meter hurdles.

The time to beat for 400-meter relay teams is set for 48.55 seconds. 1600-meter relay teams need to best 3:54.66 while the distance relay bar is at 9:46.82.

Class 1A has the lowest mark for the high jump, with athletes needing to clear 5 feet, 7 inches, while pole vaulters must clear 11 feet to prequalify. In other field events, the tape needs to stretch farther than 19 feet, 6 inches for the long jump and 39 feet, 4 inches in the triple jump. The standards are also set for both the shot put (40-1) and discus (115-10).

1A Girls

Guernsey-Sunrise, Glendo and Chugwater’s girls squads know the marks they need to beat this spring as well. The times are set at 13.68 in the 100, 28.66 in the 200 and 65.49 in the 400. Increasing in distance, the times are set for the 800 (2:35.38), 1600 (6:03.31) and 3200 (13:42.20).

Joining the runners on the track, hurdlers need times better than 18.09 seconds in the 100-meter event and 51.67 seconds in the 300-meter event to prequalify.

The 400-meter relay mark is still under a minute, resting at 58.27 seconds, while the 1600-meter relay mark is 5:01.58 and a time of better than 12:36.11 is needed in the 3200-meter relay.

For the throwing events, 1A girls need to surpass 31 feet, 1 inch in the shot put or 96 feet, 4 inches in the discus to prequalify. Seven feet, 4 inches is needed in the pole vault, while athletes need to clear 4 feet, 7 inches in the high jump to prequalify. The marks are also set for the long jump (14-9) and triple jump (31-4).

*Fully automatic timing marks were used for this article. To see the hand-held timing marks necessary to prequalify, check out whsaa.org.