Thirteen members of De Soto’s track team met the qualifications to attend the exclusive Kansas Relays meet at The University of Kansas on April 21-22.

In order to compete, athletes had to meet a certain time, or throw, depending on their event.

“It was definitely different from any other meet I had ever been to,” sophomore Rylie McDaniel said. “First we had to go check in, and they had to check our uniforms and spikes to make sure they met regulations.”

Of the 13, there were three relay teams and one thrower, with junior Gabby Collins competing in two events.

“It was raining when we were warming up, [and] we were pretty stressed at first, but once it was our heat and we got onto the track we really just wanted to compete with the other teams,” McDaniel said.

According to coach Katie Wilber, some notable individual scores include sophomore Martin Searcy, who placed 26th out of 45 in the 110HH event, junior Ethan Rodriguez, who placed 11th out of 45 in the 100m relay and junior Zach Titus, with a place of 5th out of 28 in the Shot Put event.

With just five meets left, McDaniel is confident that several athletes will qualify for State on May 26-27.

“I think quite a few will make it. It’s been a really successful season,” McDaniel said.