Oct. 16, 2009 -
New York
– The future of the venerable Millrose Games, the flagship meet of the
USA
indoor circuit, is no longer in doubt, thanks to a partnership between the
Armory Foundation and USATF.
The announcement was made at a
press conference held yesterday at the New Balance Armory Track and
Field
Center
in
Manhattan
.
Armory Foundation leader
Norbert Sander said that the aim of this partnership was to “bring Millrose
back to what it once was. We want to fill every seat at the Garden.”
The Millrose Games are more
than 100 years old, but in recent years, attendance has declined. USATF CEO Doug
Logan pledged that his group was more than interested in keeping the Millrose
Games as it is.
And he’s not afraid to change
a few things or ruffle a few feathers.
He drew applause when he said
that he had been told by some USATF personnel that “this is the way things are
done, and this is the way we’ve always done it.”
He added about the changes,
that “some are not thrilled, but I am.”
There were few specifics as to
the upcoming changes, but Sander spoke about highlighting the Millrose Trials,
scheduled for January 13.
It seems as if the focus will
be on increasing high school participation (the high schoolers seem to draw the
biggest cheers. Sander mentioned the cheering for the CHSAA 4x800-meter relay),
and getting the colleges back to the Garden.
In the “old days,” the
colleges brought out many of their alumni, as Fordham, Manhattan, St. John’s,
Seton Hall, Georgetown, Villanova, Michigan, Holy Cross, and a host of others
competed in a series of exciting 4x440 and 4x880 relays,
With so much emphasis placed on
qualifying times for the NCAA championships, the tight Garden track is less than
conducive to producing fast times.
Once, indoor track was
basically an Eastern sport, but with today’s oversized tracks and super-fast
venues, local teams travel to Notre Dame or the Seattle (
University
of
Washington
) to gain NCAA qualifying times. All this comes at the expense of traditional
indoor track and field meets.
Today, many consider indoor
track to be outdoor track run under a roof.
Seton
Hall
University
coach John Moon, whose team always competes at the Garden, asked about indexing
the tracks, and idea that has not been looked upon with favor by the NCAA
powers-that-be.
There will also be emphasis on
getting local athletes to compete. A met area mile qualifier might be held at
the Armory at the Millrose trials, with the winner getting to compete in the
Wanamaker mile. The same might be true with the high schoolers,
With
the winner getting an automatic invite to the big high school race.
