Disappointed
- Thread starter effit
- Start date
gatornation
Active member
That is SAD
Mr. Slippery
Well-known member
Am I right in guessing that this is Westerville North?
Yep. The D3 site.
Supertramp
Active member
This cannot be the 3rd best HS track facility in the city of Columbus. Another massive failure by OHSAA Track and Field.
HS athletic departments hold excellent invitationals all year long, but once things are handed over to the OHSAA at the end of the year, it’s pathetic. We finally stopped having the State CC meet at the worst course in Ohio, just to trade that out for this mess.
Raise the prices, or cut some of the 50 officials who sit around and do nothing at the meets, and pay OSU for Jesse Owens.
HS athletic departments hold excellent invitationals all year long, but once things are handed over to the OHSAA at the end of the year, it’s pathetic. We finally stopped having the State CC meet at the worst course in Ohio, just to trade that out for this mess.
Raise the prices, or cut some of the 50 officials who sit around and do nothing at the meets, and pay OSU for Jesse Owens.
CC Track Fan
Well-known member
Not to defend OHSAA in picking this site but OSU doesn't want the money. They want completely out of hosting HS sports.
OSU needs to be reminded that they are a public school. Those are our tax dollars. Don’t like it, go private.
Jaws31
It had to be done
After having their season canceled last year, extra effort should have been put in to make this season a special as possible in my opinion. The OHSAA needs to be held accountable for decisions like this and reminded that they are there for the kids that are competing, not by how much money they can make.
Supertramp
Active member
Appreciate this information.
Why Ohio State would not want High School kids having some of the most memorable experiences of their lives on their campus, that they can also profit from, is unfathomable.
OHSAA has literally paid you to show of your own campus to a few million people over the last few decades. How is this not a great deal for everyone?
JAVMAN83
Well-known member
Absolutely the dumbest PR move by OSU in decades. Great job at telling kids you don't want them on your campus. I think the personal liability lawyers have convinced too many admins that the risks outweigh the benefits. Our educational (?) system is run by cowards that think only of themselves and not of the benefit to those they supposedly serve. Time to hit them where it hurts...in the endowments. Quit giving to universities like these.
I agree with most of the sentiments expressed, but it's not all on the OHSAA. Once OSU said "no", the logical centrally-located options were the high capacity high school venues. I believe we all(in Central Ohio) had the opportunity to host; the three 2021 host schools were the ones who stepped up. I offer my thanks to these schools... they have very little to gain by hosting... they are doing their best to support our athletes.
Would Selby Stadium at Ohio Wesleyan be an option in the future if OSU remains unavailable? I'm pretty sure it seats 9000+.
Selby Stadium
Selby Stadium
I know it’s ideal to find a facility centrally located. But I’d rather drive further for a better facility than settle on a subpar host. No way is this a top 10 track in the state. Not even top 30. Basketball was played in Dayton last Winter. UD is a amazing place for hoops. And Baseball & Softball are in Akron. Point being, we could do so much better for our kids.
I get that... my point is, once the constraints were set, this was bound to be the outcome and I am grateful to the people who stepped up and took on the responsibility for hosting.
Going forward, what venues/university(ies) could be recruited to host in future years? Considering stadium capacity and parking constraints, other than SPIRE, aren't we limited to Ohio DI schools... many of which don't even have men's track & Field?
The SPIRE facilities have the desired "wow power", parking, accessibility, but are soooo far from all but the NEO high schools.
Perhaps we can come up with a list of other potential sites...
Why do we need to be limited to D1 schools? I mentioned Ohio Wesleyan above. Is there something wrong with that facility? It has a central location, is a nice facility, seats 9100, hosted the NCAA D3 track & field championships in both 2011 & 2014, and has a lot of historical value (for whatever that is worth).
Mr. Slippery
Well-known member
Having served a 4-year sentence on that campus, my initial reaction would be no. There is plenty of seating capacity, but the parking situation on that campus has been horrible forever. Also, I don't recall there being enough room around the 2nd curve to allow foot traffic to flow all the way around the facility. Having been to a few facilities like that over the years, it's a PITA.
Maybe OWU could host 1 division, but there's no way the place could host the entire meet, a la OSU.
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Without Ohio State, we're very limited on options. As was mentioned, the facility does not need to be centrally located but even with that consideration, the options, and ones that are decent, are not numerous.
Welcome Stadium in Dayton certainly has the capacity to host the meet with seating for around 11,000. It has hosted state meets in the past. It's not a good place to watch a meet.
DiSanto Field at CWRU is a nice facility but only seats about 2500.
The track at Ashland is nice but, again, not enough seating.
There's not a lot available. Without OSU being available, it really seems that OHSAA's hands are tied.
Supertramp
Active member
I appreciate this insight. No reason to blame the host schools themselves if they were the only ones to step up. Kudos to them for hosting us and doing their best.
Supertramp
Active member
Welcome Stadium in Dayton is a great place to watch a meet, I'm not sure what you mean.
However, there was some shady business with Welcome Stadium a few years ago and OHSAA cut all ties with having events there. Which was a shame all around.
Jesse Owens, Welcome Stadium, and Spire are probably the only 3 facilities (that I am aware of) in Ohio that could host all 3 Divisions.
Jesse Owens seems to be off the table.
Welcome Stadium might still be off the table.
Spire is in too remote of a location.
But if we do the 3 Divisions separately, a large number of D1 HS Track stadiums throughout the State could host that meet.
I love the stadium as well. I ran there often in college. But there is nowhere near enough parking. The list of schools with a large capacity stadium and parking is small. (Also, when you look up capacity, you can't use the football numbers which generally include a lot of temporary stands at the north and south ends for students and bands.) I believe Upper Arlington's new stadium seats over 10000, but parking there would be more of a nightmare than at Ohio Wesleyan.
I think Coffman and Gahanna are next in capacity in Central Ohio, with 8500 and 8000 respectively. Gahanna doesn't have enough parking. Then there are a bunch of stadiums with 4000-6000 in seating. Darby, Davidson, Westerville North, and Pickerington North at least have the parking capacity. This year, given the desire of the OHSAA to schedule venues that are centrally located (to avoid teams having to do overnight trips) and have enough seating capacity, they OHSAA didn't really have a lot of options. I know our admins were not keen on hosting at Coffman, because it would have been an awful lot of work for not a lot of return. My AD was willing to entertain the idea if no one else stepped up. Darby, Pick North and Westerville North did show up. It's fine to be angry. And we should want first class venues for our state championship, but let's try to remember that these three schools stepped up to host.
Edit: I wonder if DeSales (Columbus) could host. Haven't been to their stadium in a while. But old Brookhaven (now Columbus North International) HS is across the street, and Columbus Spanish Immersion Academy is just south. Together that might be enough parking to host at least a division.
gatornation
Active member
How is it that all these large stadiums do not have enough parking for track? How do they handle football games with all those fans?
Football parking is not as intensive as track parking. A large chunk of the fans are home team students, who carpool or who can't drive and get dropped off, or park somewhere in the neighborhood and walk. There is no need to park who knows how many buses and school vans. At many of these schools parking is a complete mess at every big home football game. And there will be much more parking needed for a state meet.
Newton's Third
Well-known member
I know Pickerington North is being used for D2 this season. I have only been there once, several years ago. Have they kept up the middle school track that sits right beside the high school stadium? If so, this should be a major selling point in them hosting anything and everything possible if they meet the other necessities. Athletes having an entire track to warm up, cool down, stretch, practice hand-offs, and a number of other things should keep them at the top of the short list in my eyes. I assume this alleviates a lot of battles with officials. Can those who have competed there give their opinions.
Parking... with a capital "P". They don't have enough.