Following nearly a week of excitement and final preparations, the 2012 Coed State Track and Field Championships get underway today at Drake Stadium in Des Moines. There are 77 event qualifiers among the athletes and relay teams from our area track and field squads, starting right off with this morning’s preliminaries in the Class 2A and 3A Girls Shuttle Hurdle Relay; which include teams from PCM and Pella High, respectively.

At the same time, Pella Christian’s Derek Van Kooten will begin competition in the Class 2A Long Jump and Knoxville’s Jacob Moats faces the field in the Class 3A High Jump competition as the field events schedule gets underway as well. Live updates will be broadcast from Des Moines throughout the day on KNIA/KRLS, as well as updated at kniakrls.com. The 2012 Coed State Track and Field Championships run through Saturday afternoon.