Nike Announces Top 24 Teams for Nike Track Nationals

NIKE ANNOUNCES 24 QUALIFYING CLUBS TO COMPETE IN FIRST EVER

“NIKE TRACK NATIONALS” COMPETITION

National Championship Event at Legendary Hayward Field July 2

 

BEAVERTON, ORE (July 17, 2010) – Today Nike announced the 24 clubs to qualify for the first ever Nike Track Nationals. This national championship event, held on Friday night July 2nd at Hayward Field, will name the best high school track and field program in the United States.

 

With the goal of crowning a true national track and field champion, Nike Track Nationals is a four-month virtual competition culminating in the national championship event where the top 12 boys and top 12 girls programs will compete for the title the night before the Prefontaine Classic.

 

“The qualifying teams at this year’s Nike Track Nationals competition represent the best high school aged runners across the country,” said Nike’s Vice President of Running, Amy White. “Moving from the on-line portion of this competition to winning the championship event at Hayward Field will depend on how these amazing athletes come together and show what it takes to be a winning team.”

 

Qualifying Teams (click on links to get more information):

Girls		Boys
Kentwood TC - Covington, WA	NW	Sam Barlow TC - Gresham, OR
Chandler TC - Chandler, AZ	SW	Brophy Prep TC - Phoenix, AZ
Hopkins TC - Minnetonka, MN	HL	Bismarck TC - Bismarck, ND
Clinton TC - Clinton, MS	SO	Spring TC - Spring, TX
Lee's Summit West TC - Lees Summit, MO	MW	Kentwood TC - Kentwood, MI
Western Branch TC - Chesapeake, VA	SE	Brookwood TC - Snellville, GA
Columbia TC - Maplewood, NJ	NE	Franklinville TC - Franklinville, NJ
Long Beach Poly TC - Long Beach, CA	CA	Vista Murrieta TC - Murrieta, CA
Harvard-Westlake TC - North Hollywood, CA	At Large	Dana Hills TC - Dana Point, CA
Trabuco Hills TC - Mission Viejo, CA	At Large	Wayne TC - Huber Heights, OH
Desert Vista TC - Phoenix, AZ	At Large	Brentwood TC - Brentwood, TN
South Brunswick TC - Monmouth Junction, NJ	At Large	Loyola TC - Los Angeles, CA

 

 

NTN Backrgound:

From March 1 - June 13 all track & field clubs were invited to compete in the virtual competition at www.NikeTrackNationals.com by inputting times and records set at USATF meets. Coaches updated marks weekly to see how their squad ranked against state, regional, and national competition. Upon completion of the virtual competition on June 13, the top club in each of eight regions automatically qualified for the Nike Track Nationals competition in Eugene, Oregon on July 2. The next four highest scoring clubs from any region rounded out the twelve team field.

 

Clubs will compete in ten track and field events including: 100m, 110/100m Hurdles, 400m, 800m, Mile, Long Jump, High Jump, Pole Vault, Shot Put, Discus Throw. Each team is allowed to enter their top mark for each event, with a two-event maximum per individual athlete. Those marks will then be scored in decathlon fashion with performance marks awarded a point score. Although competition consists of ten events, the lowest scoring event will be dropped, making the total score the sum of their best nine events. The highest score takes homes the crown.

 

Event Details

In addition to commentary and highlights from the Nike Sportsdesk, the Nike Spike Bus will be on hand for athletes to customize their spikes. In addition, ten Nike elite athletes and Olympians will be on hand throughout the course of the meet to provide color and interact with competitors including Allyson Felix, Sanya Richards, Bernard Lagat, etc.

 

For more information:  Visit www.NikeTrackNationals.com.

 

For media credentials:  Megan Saalfeld at Megan.Saalfeld@nike.com or  Morgan Shaw at Morgan.Shaw@nike.com

 

About Nike

NIKE, Inc. based near Beaverton, Oregon, is the world's leading designer, marketer and distributor of authentic athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories for a wide variety of sports and fitness activities. Wholly-owned Nike subsidiaries include Cole Haan, which designs, markets and distributes luxury shoes, handbags, accessories and coats; Converse Inc., which designs, markets and distributes athletic footwear, apparel and accessories; Hurley International LLC, which designs, markets and distributes action sports and youth lifestyle footwear, apparel and accessories; and Umbro Ltd., a leading United Kingdom-based global football (soccer) brand.