50 Years of OHSAA Girls' Track & Field

[JAVMAN83]

Probably not known to many, but this year marks the 50th anniversary of the beginning of OHSAA officially recognizing girls' track & field with their own state tournament. However, this was NOT the start of girls' t&f in Ohio HS athletics. Girls had been competing for more than half a century before 1975 at the HS level, many of the competitions coming in the form of county level meetings around Ohio and as part of club competitions & other venues. While I don't want to go to deep in the woods with regard to this subject, I felt it necessary to recognize their own contributions to the sport with its own thread.

 

[yj_runfan]

Can’t be 50 years. I was in high school when it started. Oh, wait….

 

[JAVMAN83]

Can’t be 50 years. I was in high school when it started. Oh, wait….

It sucks, doesn't it? 7th grade was 1978, so I'm not far behind you. It sucks!

Little known fact is that the first three (3) of girls' state track meets were NOT held in conjuction with the boys. They were held the following weekend in early June. When the decision was made in 1977 to combine the meets starting in 1978, it was met by pushback by "sports writers" who protested to OHSAA that they couldn't "properly cover" such a plethora of results!