Track & Field and Cross-Country Bulletin for Mar 08, 2017
Prep national record-setters at NBNI: Tara Davis, Armand Duplantis, Sammy Watson, Tyrese Cooper, Alyssa Wilson. Photos by Vic Sailer, Photorun.net.
NBNI Weekend is here!!!
The 18th New Balance Nationals Indoor (NBNI), our renowned championships for the country’s best prep track and field athletes, will again be held at the Fort Washington Armory in New York City (Washington Heights), Friday-Sunday, March 10-12, 2017. More than 3,600 athletes from more than 40 states and Canadian provinces competed with us last year and we are expecting similar numbers this weekend -- looking to run, hurdle, jump, throw and walk their way to titles in 46 boys’ and girls’ Championship events, as well as 40 more Emerging Elite and Freshman events.
Special thanks to our friends at New Balance -- the best partners we could hope for -- for again working with us to make these three days the best ever in prep indoor T&F; to Eastbay, our Presenting Sponsor; and all of the staff, officials and volunteers who work tirelessly with the NSAF here at NBNI every year. This is our 7th indoor nationals with New Balance and the 34th such meet NSAF founders Jim Spier and the late Mike Byrnes have been involved with since 1983.
8 things you need to know
- ALL athletes must sign a Waiver and Release form in order to pick up their packets at the meet. Please read the instructions carefully, download and sign the Waiver and bring it with you to the meet.
- All athletes who registered before the souvenir guarantee deadline (Feb. 20) will receive NBNI backpacks, aka Swag Bags -- the most coveted backpack in track and field! Those who registered later will get Championship and Emerging Elite backpacks, as available.
- Fans can still advance-purchase NBNI reserved seats. The tickets, sold on a daily basis, are $40 (front two rows) and $35 (3rd/4th rows) per day. Choose and purchase the best available seats using these links: FRIDAY | SATURDAY | SUNDAY.
- Be sure to pick up a copy of our NBNI Meet Program. Its filled with interesting stories, profiles of our honorees, historical statistics of the meet through time and more!
- Once again, you can view the outstanding Live Webcast of the meet on Runnerspace.com.
- Make sure you keep up with the meet schedule, especially any possible changes.
- Live results of the meet will be at deltatiming.com and at NBNationalsin.com.
- Our 23 brand new Meet Record Banners, created in partnership with Athlete Race Numbers, are displayed around The Armory.
6 links to help you follow the action
- nationalscholastic.org - NSAF homepage has links to entries, heat sheets, current and historic results, schedule, previews, summaries and much more.
- facebook.com/NSAF1990 - NSAF Facebook page will include video interviews, photos, event clips and more, before, during and after the meet.
- twitter.com/tweetingtrack - NSAF Twitter page (search tweetingtrack): Photos, videos, links and more before, during and after the meet.
- instagram.com/nsaf_track - NSAF Instagram page (search nsaf_track): Photos, videos, links and more before, during and after the meet.
- nbnationalsin.com - The starting point for our live webcast, videos, photos, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook links and other meet coverage from New Balance and Runnerspace.com.
- http://cdn.runnerspace.com/nbnlive.html - Live webcast link, which will include field event coverage as well as the action on the track.
9 new HSR-setters competing at NBNI
There have been 9 individual prep national record-setters indoors this winter and ALL of them will be at NBNI! Here's a quick look at each.
- Tara Davis (Agoura CA sr) - With her 21-11 in February, she broke Carol Lewis's 36-year-old long jump HSR. The top returnee in both horizontals, she has a shot at a LJ/TJ/60H triple.
- Armand Duplantis (Lafayette LA jr) - He has raised his pole vault HSR four times this winter, now up to 18-10.25. Defending champ should become the first NBN 18-footer; could become first prep over 19.
- Sammy Watson (Rush-Henrietta NY sr) - Two-time IAAF World champ and 6-time NBN champ (800s and relays) has set HSRs now at 600 (twice), 800 and 1k (twice). Now she challenges herself in the mile.
- Sydney McLaughlin (Union Catholic NJ sr) - 9-time NBN champ (indiv/relay) advanced to Olympic 400H semis last summer. Now she tries to improve her 400 HSR and possibly anchor her UC teammates to repeat 4x400 title.
- Tyrese Cooper (Miami Norland FL so) - Super soph who won NBNO 400 as a frosh now leads national at 200, 300 (2 HSRs), 400 and 500. Will try to win 60 and 200 or 400 (or possibly all three).
- Trey Cunningham (Winfield City AL sr) - Our CSI 110H champ last June, he was 4th in 60H here last year, but now has broken HSR with a 7.49 last month -- .04 faster than Grant Holloway's mark here in '16.
- Alyssa Wilson (Donovan Catholic NJ sr) - Shot put runner-up last year, then NBNO champ, she broke Raven Saunders' 2014 HSR with 57-5.5 at Eastern States last week. Can she beat it again (and Saunders MR) at NBNI?
- Jordan Geist (Knoch PA sr) - Defending champ smashed the HSR with 16-lb. shot in December, and has since thrown 76-10.5 with the standard 12-pounder -- less than 5 inches off Ryan Crouser's HSR.
- Lauren Harris (Sachem East NY rr) - Swept NBN indoor and outdoor mile walks last year, becoming the first to break 7:00 both times. Now she's primed to repeat, fresh off smashing the 1500 record.
(Above photos of record-setters Jordan Geist, Sydney McLaughlin, Lauren Harris and Trey Cunningham, by Vic Sailer, photorun.net)
4 NSAF Honorees
The following individuals will receive the following annual NSAF awards at our Opening Ceremonies Sunday afternoon at 12:45pm.
- The late Larry Byrne - Honorary Referee in Memoriam
- John Nepolitan - Doug Speck Award for Excellence and Innovation
- Mike Mangan - Mike Byrnes National Coach of the Year
- Paul Schwartz - Allen Dawson Award for Contributions to Track and Field
Please read about them in our NBNI meet program or on our website following NBNI.
Many great sponsors, partners and supporters
Once again, we're grateful for our Presenting Sponsors at Eastbay. Stop by their booth and check out all of their great training and racing apparel, footwear and much more.
The Official Baton Supplier for the NSAF is RelayBatons.com. Special batons will be presented to Championship relay winners during the award ceremonies. Also be sure to check their booth with your relay teammates to have your own personalized relay batons created.
Be on the lookout for our Recovery Zone on the track level at NBNI, sponsored by ROLL Recovery! It will be a space where athletes can stretch and roll out before, after, or between races and field events. Athletes can also sign up for giveaways and try and/or purchase ROLL Recovery products, which will be for sale at special discounted event pricing.
Try an ElliptiGo (also on the track level at NBNI), the world’s first elliptical bicycle which delivers a fun, comfortable and effective cardiovascular workout experience that inspires people and improves their lives -- while eliminating impact on joints. They have helped Great Oaks High School and Coach Doug Soles build a national distance dynasty out of Temecula, California. Learn more at NBNI and at their website and Facebook Page.
Our NBNI competition bibs are provided by Athlete Race Numbers, the Official Bib Printer of the NSAF -- and creator of our fabulous new record banners. Meet Directors, be sure to check out Athlete Race Numbers for your own meets and use the handy NSAF16 code to receive a discount.
Don't Miss Out. Stay in Touch with the NSAF on our Website, Facebook and Twitter pages.