The 2019-2020 school year is upon us which means that thousands of high school student-athletes are busy both in and out of the classroom. Fall sports seasons are in their first week of competition which is reason for excitement. We have a lot of reason for excitement within the IATC as well. We have a fantastic group of volunteers who are committed to compiling and producing IATC Cross Country Rankings including our initial preseason lists which were released last week. President Tim O’Neill, secretary/treasurer Ben Duea, and website coordinator Rob Hamman have worked collaboratively to vastly improve our membership drive/process. We’ve got some important dates, times, and locations already locked in for the 2019-2020 seasons. This is a time of great progress and excitement for our members!
Before we focus solely on the upcoming seasons we would like to give many thanks to several individuals, coaches, districts, and facilities sites for hosting some of our biggest and best events. The IATC would like to thank Ames HS and meet coordinator Ben Duea for hosting the Mike Henderson Junior High Boys State Track and Field back in May. Many thanks to Ankeny Centennial and meet coordinator Eric Cogdill for hosting the Mike Henderson Junior High Girls State meet as well. The girls meet had 1026 girl participants and the boys had 642 participants! We would also like to thank Iowa City West HS for simultaneously hosting the 7th-12th grade coed pentathlon (87 participants) and the newly formatted Sr. Spotlight Meet. Both of these events were different than in the past but we feel like both events were improved and will continue to trend in that direction in 2020. Mr. Cogdill again did a tremendous job of being the meet coordinator for both of those events while Senior Spotlight Team Coordinator Bob Saunders once again did a tremendous job. There are so many people to thank who work tirelessly behind the scenes to provide these opportunities to the student-athletes around our state. Thank you to all who volunteered their time!
2019 IATC Important Dates
Week 1 Cross Country Rankings Released September 2nd
Washburn Classic State MS XC Meet @ Ankeny Centennial October 19th
IGHSAU/IHSAA HS State XC Meet @ Ft. Dodge November 2nd
Senior Spotlight XC Meet @ DMACC, Ankeny November 9th
Fall IATC Meeting @ IC West November 10th
Championship Productions TnF/XC Clinic @ Ames December 6th-7th
Fall Social/IATC Meeting at TnF/XC Clinic @ Ames December 6th
IATC/IATO Hall of Fame Banquet @ Ames December 7th
2020 IATC Important Dates
IATC Indoor T&F Championships @ Univ. of Dubuque March 21st
Final Date to Qualify for the Drake Relays April 16th
Drake Relays @ Drake Stadium April 23rd-April 25th
Mike Henderson MS State T&F Meets @ Ames & Ankeny Northview May 9th
IGHSAU/IHSAA HS Track & Field State Qualifying Meets May 14th
IGHSAU/IHSAA HS Track & Field State Meet @ Drake Stadium May 21st-May 23rd
IATC MS & HS Pentathlon @ IC West June 6th
IATC Senior Spotlight Meet @ IC West June 6th
IATC Spring/Summer Meeting @ IC West June 7th
Moving forward, I would like to wish all of the cross country athletes and coaches the very best of luck this season. The state qualifying meets will be held on October 19th while the coed state cross meet will be held on November 2nd. Individual and team rankings will continue to be released throughout the season. We are still compiling information the JH state cross country meet and the Cross Country Senior Spotlight Meet. We will get that information posted to the IATC website as soon as possible.
In closing please know how much we appreciate your membership and your contributions to our association. We wish all of you the best of luck in 2019-2020!
Jared Fletcher
1st Vice President
