High School Nationals
Positives
Overall, this was a well run, well organized, high quality meet. The meet was fun with a good atmosphere. The announcers did a great job staying enthusiastic and on top of the action over the duration of the 4 days. Athletes enjoyed hanging out in the warmup area, where a few games were set up along with the Nike XC emblem, which was a prime picture taking area.
The stadium is obviously second to none. High school athletes competed in the same stadium as the World Championships, just one year prior. The scoreboard had instant results, and it was really cool how the names and relays had the state flag next to their name.
The meet flowed well, and there was no down time. Athletes were given prime time treatment in the championship events as the camera went around to focus on each athlete as they were introduced.
Negatives
1.Eugene is a remote location to host a national meet. You obviously aren’t going to get everyone to fly out there, so you’re not truly hosting a national meet. How many kids aren’t there because of the prohibitive travel expenses? Just two people going out can easily cost $6,000 for 4-5 days. As of now, it’s the official meet.
2.This was a chance for Nike to really separate themselves from the other national meets, and I am not sure it did that. A couple simple things that Nike could have done to really give athletes an experience and bring them back would be: have a stadium tour the day before competition, open up Hayward Hall, and bring in Nike athletes for meet and greet sessions/to be guest starters/give out medals.
2a. Nike could have really used this as an opportunity to promote their athletes. Donovan Brazier, Cole Hocker, and Raevyn Rogers were there in some capacity, but it almost wasn’t noticeable. There were a couple athletes who did brief, pre-recorded race intros for certain events on the scoreboard. Why weren’t they there in person?
2b. Pro races-not sure why the pro meet was held Friday night after a long day at the track. There was an hour break from 4:45-5:55. You could have had the pro races then. And they weren’t even complete fields. How can you not find some local sub elites to fill the field?
2c. You could have had an hour each day where athletes have an open training session on the track then a meet and greet/picture session after. Or, you could have a couple pro races in the middle of the meet each day.
3. The coaches’ hospitality tent was rather lame. Most days there were some snacks and warm drinks. Hardly planned out. Eugene Running Company had a much better set up Thursday night which means that once again the small local company does more for the sport.
4. There was no media down at the athlete area. Kids were taking pictures by the banners and posting, but why wouldn’t you have someone down there doing interviews with kids and taking team pictures.
5. Some aspects clearly were an oversight:Â the coaches jackets had a printing error, where only some had the nationals emblem;Â athletes jackets just said outdoor nationals instead of having a year or emblem on it (bookbags are better anyway), and there could have been some promotion for teams that came 3,000 miles away to entice the same teams or other teams to come next year.
6. Lack of vendors/extra-curricular activities-There were a handful of vendors along the promenade, but there could have been a better set up. There weren’t any freebies being handed out or any low key games for athletes and spectators to play and compete for something (like a pull up contest). There were 5 vendors set up, none of which included the local running store, University of Oregon admissions, nutrition, a Nike giveaway tent, or whatever else.
Picture Gallery
Forthcoming-Some Are up on Instagram @chasingthestandard
Interviews