As I posted previously, the USATF Seniors (i.e Men's & Women's Championship)
used to be the third weekend in June and the Junior meet a week later. In
order to avoid having the Seniors on the same weekend as the U.S. Open in
Golf (to get better TV and media coverage), the two meets were flipped on
the schedule a couple years back. This will put the Junior meet in conflict
with the high school meet at least some years. Of course, a majority of the
entrants at the Junior meet are College freshmen but there have always been
a fair number of high schoolers competing. Some high schoolers (like the
noted Zac Pollinger) enter both and make a last minute decision which to
attend.
The alternatives are not great. Because of staff limitations, it is not
possible to hold the Senior and Junior meet on the same weekend at different
sites. Some have suggested combining the Senior and Junior meet at the same
site on the same week but the Junior meet was combined with the 1984 Olympic
Trials with (at best) mixed results. Many folks felt it sort of got lost in
the shuffle.
Ed Koch
-----Original Message-----
From: Jack Moran <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Saturday, July 07, 2001 5:30 PM
Subject: t-and-f: Whatever Happened to the US Juniors?
>Ten years ago, the Juniors were held in Minnesota, and I was delighted to
be
>there. This meet promised to showcase the future of US track and field,
and
>did it ever come thru. John Godina won the shot, with 17-year-old Andy
>Bloom in 4th, and the discus as well. 15-year-old Marion Jones won the 100
>(in a meet record 11.29) and 200, and was the subject of a splendid article
>in the Star Tribune. Other now-familiar names included Tony Parilla, Den
>Minor, and Dawn Dumble.
>
>This year the Juniors, although a qualifier for the US Pan Am team,
>conflicted with the National Scholastic High School meet. How long has
that
>been allowed to happen? And, while I was delighted to see coverage of that
>meet and Golden West in the latest issue of T&FN, I couldn't find one
report
>on the Juniors. What happened?
>
