State track - is four days the right number?

Contributor: The Nerd

Two days, three day, four days?

Traditions die hard in athletics but, in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic, we saw more changes in Nebraska high school sports than had occurred in the previous 20 years. The short-term changes were aplenty: spectator limits, the cancellation of all Spring 2020 sports, the terrible decision by OPS to cancel Falls 2020 activities, new safety protocols and more.

I’ve been consistently complimentary of the NSAA in how they approached the pandemic. The NSAA was able to safely complete the State basketball tournament in March 2020 when many states did not, and their reasoned approach allowed Fall 2020 seasons and championships to go on without much of a hiccup. In the spring of 2021, when the vaccine distribution schedule was still fairly uncertain, the NSAA made the decision to adopt a four-day State track meet schedule that reduced congestion and allowed for no spectator limits. Like most track fans, I was truly happy to see the kids competing. The precautions appeared to work; I did not hear of any documented COVID spread that arose from the State track meet.

Of course, nothing is ever perfect. The 2021 amended schedule segregated the four classes but compressed the events so that each Class schedule was completed for the day before the next Class started, creating a mini-version of Groundhog Day. Big-city kids didn’t get to watch small town athletes fly by them, and the small-town kids weren’t near the track when Class A studs like Gabe Hinrichs, Liem Chot and Daniel Romary fought it out in the three distance races. On the last day, I walked away happy that the meet had been held but pondering how it could be improved. And then I promptly forgot about it.

The NSAA subsequently announced that they would be repeating the four-day schedule for the 2022 State meet. While there would be a few minor changes, the schedule we have today -- Class A and B intermingled on Wednesday/Thursday and Class C and D on Friday/Saturday -- appears to be the schedule we'll always have unless there is a groundswell of support from schools for a change.

As a parent of a Class A competitor in 2021 and a media member since 2018, I've had a chance to reflect on the old and new schedules. My observations:

• With a designated window (9:00-1:30) before running events began, field events are less rushed. While the pole vault competition often runs past 1:30 (and the discus sometimes does), the new format means that fewer athletes are bouncing between their field event and a running event.

• While total fan attendance has been strong, few sessions had the buzz that we’re used to seeing on the Saturday session each year prior to COVID. I can recall a few specific events over the past few years that had fans on their feet, such as the ovations that Carson Noecker and the Class A boys received after their 3200 meter races, but the environment wasn’t as amped – particularly with Class A schools competing in the middle of the week.

• When the schedule was extended to four days, the separation of Classes on each day meant that the running events were more compressed than previous years even with some built-in awards breaks (which I liked). That, in turn, made it more difficult for athletes competing in multiple events. This was particularly impactful on Day 2 for each Class when, for example, the 800 meters would have previously had 16 heats (two of each gender for each Class) before the next event. Under the old schedule there was simply more time for athletes to recover and still compete well in multiple running events on Day 2, such as the 400/800, the 800/1600, the 300 hurdles/400, etc. Perhaps in response to these complaints, the NSAA eliminated heats for the 300 hurdles and the 400 meter dash, but this is still an issue for other races. For example, in 2024 Jaxon Knisley of North Platte St. Patricks ran the 100 meter final less than 20 minutes after winning the 110HH final. Another four heats of the 100 might have been helpful for his recovery.

When I have free time at State, I try to talk to the volunteers between races. I’m 58 and in reasonably good shape, and I'm still exhausted at the end of each day. Now consider the average race official, who is likely a retired coach or teacher over age 65, and park them in the sun for four days. I didn’t see any evidence that the NSAA was lacking for volunteers at the 2024 meet, but several told me that the four-day meet was a strain for them. They’re part of the flavor of the meet and I would hate to see a four-day schedule chase them away.

On a positive note, I do not miss the 16 consecutive heats of the 4x400 that were part of the pre-COVID Saturday. Unless you could leave Burke as soon as your kids ran, that was a very long two hours.

Most of the athletes’ parents are working-class age. While competing at State is a huge achievement, the Wednesday/Thursday schedule for Class A and B is pretty brutal for parents who don’t have flexible schedules or an excess of vacation days.

When NSAA made the announcement in 2022 that they were sticking with the four-day schedule, a few coaches reacted negatively on social media. Seeing that response, I used our X account to ask for constructive feedback that we could share with the NSAA and fans, but surprisingly had little reaction. However, I did receive responses from a few current and former coaches.

A three-day meet isn’t a new idea. Many states already do it, and Iowa has long had a three-day meet (2024 schedule here) where all four of their Classes compete on each of the three days. However, Iowa still offers two sessions per day so their versions of Class A/D compete together before Class B/C hit the stadium, and there are time conflicts between field events and running events. Perhaps it's the Drake Stadium setting or something else unrelated to having all four Classes overlap, but Iowa athletes rave about their State meet experience.

A former high school coach proposed a different model to me – he wanted all four classes competing together each of the three days, which would expand rest time between races while also allowing fans and athletes to see the best in State.

I’ve uploaded the former coach's proposed running and field event schedules at the end of this article for your review. Here are a few of his arguments while a three-day schedule is better than four days:

• The proposed schedule allows every existing event to be packed into a three-day, 8-9 hour meet. With 10:00am starts, athletes would have more time to sleep. There's a deep library of literature on how starting the school day later will improve learning performance, and this may also hold true for athletics. Even better, the meet would finish by 6:00 or 7:00 each day, allowing parents, spectators and volunteers to have dinner and still get to bed at a reasonable time.

• Having every Class start their day in the morning allows distance events to be run before the heat of the day, while pushing sprints to the warmer part of the day when sprinters perform better.

• The expanded schedule allows more time for athletes to compete in two, three or four events and to do their best in each event.

• Prelims wouldn’t have to be eliminated in the 300 hurdles or 400 meter dash, and the NSAA could consider prelims in the 4x100 or 4x400 on Day 1 if the coaches support it. If preliminaries were held in the relays, this would speed up the finals on Day 3 - and avoid the sixteen consecutive heats of the 4x400.

The expanded schedule could allow for the introduction of the Distance Medley Relay, a huge draw at NCAA meets and a great way to increase athlete participation. Perhaps we could even throw in the javelin, an incredible event in which Nebraska USATF athletes have been competing for decades. I’m sure the weight coaches would love to have an event on each of the three days, and particularly a new one that highlights the athleticism of their athletes.

Jon Preister, a cross country coach at Omaha Westside, was one of the coaches who replied to my 2022 X query. He spent two years digging into the details and talking to dozens of coaches from all over the state, and I touched based with him this week to see what he learned. His observations:

• There is stronger support for the current format among Class C/D schools because they compete on the traditional Friday/Saturday schedule, they experience less congestion at Burke and hospitality venues, their athletes are now awarded medals during competition, and there is greater focus on C/D athletes since Class A/B competition has already finished.

  
  

• Class A coaches, in general, were more in favor of reverting back to a two-day format or adopting a three-day schedule. The congestion of a two-day meet was less of an issue for them, the Wednesday/Thursday schedule features smaller and less-electric crowds, and All-Class gold medalists are no longer recognized in person.

  
  

• There was a general sense that the State track meet doesn't need to be a marquee event or grow in popularity. "Don't fix what isn't broken" is the prevailing theme rather than creating an event that matches the excitement of the State basketball and wrestling tournaments.

I could write more, but the point isn’t to convince you that the three-day schedules, proposed by the former coach and linked below, are perfect schedules. My goal is to start a discussion. I'm a huge fan of all four Classes of Nebraska high school track and field, but not much more than that, and I live five miles from Burke Stadium. I'd love to hear feedback from coaches, fans and athletes – particularly those from small towns who would have to spend another day in Omaha. Feel free to respond to our social media posts, send me a DM on Facebook or Twitter, or e-mail feedback to jayslagle@hotmail.com. I'll summarize the feedback in a future Nerdsletter, and I'll post a Twitter poll after our followers have had time to digest our suggestions.

Until then, I'll just dream about what could be.

State Track Proposal - 3 Day Meet Track Events.pdf

Download PDF • 100KB

State Track Proposal - 3 Day Meet Field Events.pdf

Download PDF • 94KB

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First published at www.preprunningnerd.com by Jay Slagle on April 30, 2025. If you find an error, shoot us an e-mail at jayslagle@hotmail.com and we'll get it fixed.

Like this coverage of the Nebraska T&F and cross country scene? There's more of this at www.preprunningnerd.com. Check out the Blog tab for our frequent stories and the Results tab for every Nebraska high school meet we can find. If you want to see meet photos or just need to kill a few hours on social media, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @PrepRunningNerd or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/preprunningnerd.

Finally, if you think runners, jumpers and throwers are the best things on earth, you'll enjoy our two most popular articles. In 2018 we published "The Runner with the Broken Heart" about a high school boy who finished last in nearly every race he ran. In 2022 we published, "The Fall and Rise of Emmett " a story about a high school triple jumper who became a quadrapalegic after a swimming accident.