National prep meet to precede Pre Classic | The event at Hayward Field will feature athletes from nation’s best programs

Appeared in print: Saturday, Jun 12, 2010

A new Nike-sponsored team competition for high school track and field athletes will bring 250 athletes from the top 12 boys programs and top 12 girls programs in the nation to Hayward Field on July 2, the night before the Prefontaine Classic.

John Capriotti, Nike’s director of global athletic sports marketing, told the Track and Field Writers of America in Eugene on Friday that the Nike Track Nationals are envisioned as “an event to help elevate our sport.”

A video promoting the meet described it as “a new championship at the home of champions.”

Since earlier this spring, more than 1,000 high schools have registered for consideration for the meet and been entering marks online weekly for comparison with other teams in their regions. The top team from each of eight regions will qualify for the national meet, and the next four highest-scoring teams will round out the fields.

In the meet at Hayward Field, which will begin at 6 p.m. and have free admission, the teams, which will compete as club teams, will contend in 10 events: 100 meters, high hurdles, 400, 800, mile, long jump, high jump, pole vault, shot put and discus. Teams will enter their best athlete in each event, and no athlete can enter more than two events; a specially designed decathlon-like scoring system will determine the team winners.

NikeTrackNationals.com