State Track:

How many states do it like Kansas?

2 days of madness, with all classes at the same spot?

I can think of Kansas and Nebraska.

If you are within ear shot of Cessna Stadium in Wichita, KS, the 24th and 25th of May.....do yourself a favor and go.

Unbelievable sight.

 

Not to be a dick, but why are you asking this in early March?

 

Wisconsin does it ... Divisions 1, 2 and 3 on Friday and Saturday in La Crosse.

One big clusterfuck.

 

Hey, there's nothing more fun than shooting that event and trying to get shots of the area kids in the shot put, the discus and triple jump all at the same time but on different ends of the stadium...oh, and don't forget the area pole vaulter and the track events going on at the same time.

On the plus side, it was at that event where I quit drinking soda...I was so busy I went the whole day with nothing but water. Realizing I wouldn't collapse from caffeine withdrawal, I quit on the spot...almost five years ago.

 

It's a great event! La Crosse is a great running town. No chance of winning a local 5k unless you can close in on 14 flat. University of Wisconsin-La Crosse is a D3 track power. The town fills with thousands of people and the stadium (to be replaced next year) is filled to bursting.

 

Illinois has two classes (until next year when it has three) over two days. First weekend for the girls, second weekend for the boys.

 

Texas does all five classifications at UT's track and soccer complex in two days. It is unbelievable. There are around 10k people there for the 5A running finals.
Idaho does all five classifications in three days at Boise State University. Though, the crowd never gets bigger than about 4 or 5 thousand for the 4A and 5A finals on Friday night.
I would definitely tell any track and field fan to try and hit the Texas one sometime in their lifetime.

 

Wyoming has all four classes' state meet (boys and girls, so it's actually eight different state meets) at Natrona County High School in Casper every May (it's the most central location and a decent facility for that event). Three days of hauling ass from one end of the event site to the other trying to get everything covered.

 

Pennsylvania brings 'em all in to Shippensburg for two days -- boys, girls, big schools, small schools. Huge fun, especially now that the Philadelphia city schools are in the mix.

It's also fun to see what some of the champions from the "poor" districts are sending ... like a 2:12 800-meter champ when some of the top seeds are down around 1:52, or a girls' pole vault district champion at 6 feet, 6 inches.

Interestingly, though, it seems that more often than not, these outclassed kids wind up performing above their abilities at states and at least look semi-competitive. It's not like you see girls getting lapped in the 1600 meters.

 

One thing to remember about the Texas state meet is there are no prelims. Each event has eight qualifiers (the top two finishers from their respective regional meets), so they run the races off pretty damn fast.

Another feature is that ALL of the field events are inside the stadium, meaning one never has to go more than a few hundred yards to be right in the middle of anything.

The drawback is that the press work area is atop a parking garage that rises behind the west stands. Reporters and photogs must go up and down 35-40 rowns (I never really counted).

 

Good points. Add in that it can be brutally hot and humid in Austin in May and the top of the parking garage becomes that much worse.
Of course, if you work for one of the major metros you will be inside the air conditioned press box next to the auxilary parking garage press box with the rest of us.

 

From there, you should have a fabulous view of Brackenridge Hospital.