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While New York may be known for both the Armory and Ocean Breeze, most athletes in the State are running on a flat track. But are they created equal?
That was the answer we sought to seek. We took the Top 100 times for the Boys 300m at every well-trafficked track in the State, then averaged those marks. We chose the 300m because it was the shortest distance where the curvature of the track had an effect on the race. Below is what we found.
There are several factors, both intrinsic and extrinsic, to judging the speed of a track. Intrinsically, things like the length of the turns, the quality of the track surface, the number of lanes, and the facility it is housed in all have a significant effect on how fast the track runs. Extrinsically, the quality of the athletes running on the track, the number of athletes, and the ability to bring in out-of-Section teams can all skew the data. However, we found roughly the same numbers across all tracks, which leads us to believe we were getting closer to the truth.
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Note: The numbers for our two banked tracks are skewed. We included athletes from all States in the banked track rankings, which gives a more skewed number, as the people within the Top 100 are faster within a large base to pull from.
For all track, we used 2020 numbers, which means OB hasn't hosted the State Meet yet. Likewise, the Armory will play host to Indoor Nationals, but that meet doesn't include a 300m event. So take each number with a grain of salt, comparing apples (banked tracks) to apples.
Below, you will find the raw numbers.