Do flat 200 meter track have a long term future?

C

CC Track Fan

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Ohio Northern just had to cancel their meet this weekend due to not enough interest and Findlay is also having trouble getting teams to come to their meets. Both have said it is due to schools wanting to race on 300 meter tracks.

I know Muskingum just opened a 200 meter track but how many more will be built? I am sure the 300 meter track is much more expensive to build but does increase the things it can be used for including most importantly to colleges football practice.

Obviously 200 meter tracks will be around beyond my lifetime because of the costs for schools to replace them.
 
 
Sorry to hear that. None of those performances over 60 meters can be considered for record purposes. They all go into their own "over-sized" faciltiy list. UK is deliberately moving away from their large oval (I was there not long after they opened in the 90s) and building a banked 200 meter track for the sole purpose of being competitive within the SEC...the most competitive conference in the U.S. collegiate system. Ohio colleges & universities seem to be too multi-purpose oriented with football in mind in particular. Understandable from a cost standpoint, but all those collegeiate performances over 60 meters have asterisks associated with them.
 
Ohio Northern ran up against meets at Ohio State and Cedarville this week. Both flat 200m tracks, both packed to the gills. Mount St Joseph just built a beautiful, flat 200m facility last year, and conduct two HS meets a year. Both had extensive waiting lists. Ultimately for both Findlay and Ohio Northern their location is the major factor when going up against facilities closer to the major population centers
 
This is very true. For southwest Ohio, once UC closed the Armory Fieldhouse to meets about 20 years ago, Cedarville was the only thing within 80 minutes drive for years for Cincinnati. Armory used to be packed full on their 175m track. Glad to see MSJ build their much-needed facility.
 
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lane4 said:
Ohio Northern ran up against meets at Ohio State and Cedarville this week. Both flat 200m tracks, both packed to the gills. Mount St Joseph just built a beautiful, flat 200m facility last year, and conduct two HS meets a year. Both had extensive waiting lists. Ultimately for both Findlay and Ohio Northern their location is the major factor when going up against facilities closer to the major population centers
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This is true but will add Ashland meet on 300 meter track is having as big or bigger impact on ONU meet and that is were ONU is now running.

But at least in Ohio it seems more 300 are being built than 200 and IMO if OSU ever replaces replaces their indoor track it will be with a 300 meter track.

As for SEC with them being warmer weather schools there is much less need for a larger indoor space that a 300 meter track gives so the banked 200 meter is more likely to be much more common as the 300 meter track has got to be much more expensive.
 
The NCAA offers conversions for qualifying marks run on a flat 200-meter track. I wonder if the OATCCC will follow suit. My back-of-the-napkin math shows that about 90 percent of the current top 40 marks in DI indoor track in events 200 and up are from 300-meter tracks. Which is awesome if you live in NEO and have access to Spire weekly or Akron, Ashland, Youngstown, Kent, etc. Southwest Ohio folks are at a distinct disadvantage there - a couple of wittenberg meets or 7-8 hours on a bus (round trip) are the choices.
 
There's no future for 200 or 300 indoor flat tracks in the D1 collegiate ranks for competition. What's left of 200m/300m indoor flat tracks will be used for training only.
 
RedChief said:
There's no future for 200 or 300 indoor flat tracks in the D1 collegiate ranks for competition. What's left of 200m/300m indoor flat tracks will be used for training only.
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You may be accurate in your assessment. Time will tell. I do see, though, that it will take several decades at least for the big D1 schools to fund new athletic facilities for 200m banked tracks if they wish to be major players at the D1 level. Kentucky has to do so to keep pace in the SEC, the premiere conference in the U.S.
 
JAVMAN83 said:
You may be accurate in your assessment. Time will tell. I do see, though, that it will take several decades at least for the big D1 schools to fund new athletic facilities for 200m banked tracks if they wish to be major players at the D1 level. Kentucky has to do so to keep pace in the SEC, the premiere conference in the U.S.
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Following in the footsteps of Virginia Beach and Louisville, Gainesville just opened a new state of the art indoor 200m banked track in the interest of "economic development."
 
RedChief said:
Following in the footsteps of Virginia Beach and Louisville, Gainesville just opened a new state of the art indoor 200m banked track in the interest of "economic development."
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Birmingham, AL did the same thing with their CrossPlex facility. Huge facility and fast.
 
JAVMAN83 said:
You may be accurate in your assessment. Time will tell. I do see, though, that it will take several decades at least for the big D1 schools to fund new athletic facilities for 200m banked tracks if they wish to be major players at the D1 level. Kentucky has to do so to keep pace in the SEC, the premiere conference in the U.S.
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Kentucky is a different situation than what you think. The football team wants the turf in their facility to go wall to wall and gave the track team money from their budget to build a new facility. Track did not have any intention of building a new one but if money was given to them to do so why not. We were there over the summer and facility manager told us the story.
 
Finishtiming said:
Kentucky is a different situation than what you think. The football team wants the turf in their facility to go wall to wall and gave the track team money from their budget to build a new facility. Track did not have any intention of building a new one but if money was given to them to do so why not. We were there over the summer and facility manager told us the story.
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Thank you for that update. I may have read that information elsewhere, but had forgotten.
 
Finishtiming said:
The football team wants the turf in their facility to go wall to wall and gave the track team money from their budget to build a new facility.
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The football program may well want Nutter as an exclusive practice facility but the money for the new state of the art indoor track did not come from the football budget. The entire $20 million(and the $5 million for the Nutter conversion) is being raised privately, including $7.5 million from one donor.
 
lane4 said:
The football program may well want Nutter as an exclusive practice facility but the money for the new state of the art indoor track did not come from the football budget. The entire $20 million(and the $5 million for the Nutter conversion) is being raised privately, including $7.5 million from one donor.
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That I am glad to see. Private funds instead of taxpayer or university student fees.
 
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lane4 said:
The football program may well want Nutter as an exclusive practice facility but the money for the new state of the art indoor track did not come from the football budget. The entire $20 million(and the $5 million for the Nutter conversion) is being raised privately, including $7.5 million from one donor.
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Hmmm. Their maintenance and coaching staff must have heard it wrong then. Maybe not football budget but football is pushing for the change.
 
lane4 said:
No. The new indoor facility will go in across Fred Taylor Dr from Jesse Owens Stadium. It has been on the board for several years but was delayed, along with a few other athletic projects, by covid.
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Hmm. I wasn't aware of that, but thank you for elucidating me! Will this wipe out the throwing area? Or tree area to the south of the throwing area?
 
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