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For the second year in a row, there will be no Spring Track State Meet in New York.
The New York State Public High School Athletic Association made the announcement via Twitter on Wednesday Morning, serving as a blanket statement for all Spring Sport Championships.
The announcement serves as the first news update we have gotten about the Spring Season in quite some time. Previously, and rightfully so, the focus has been on getting Indoor Track, the highest risk of all the Seasons, to hold some form of competition. We've seen inventive ways of accomplishing that, from the Virtual Meet Duals of Long Island, to the Polar Bear Meets in Section 1, and with the Indoor Turf competitions in Rochester.
Spring Track was set to start in late April, as the start of the Season was pushed back for the allowance of a Fall II Season, which for some Sections would include Cross Country. Until now, the only major inconvenience for Spring Track would be the inability to qualify for Penn Relays. The late start date would not allow for the minimum number of practices to compete in a meet, let alone hitting the qualification standards.
The start date was most likely a key factor in the decision. With the 7 Day minimum practice rule, that would put the first competitions likely into the first weekend of May. That would only leave a three week season before Sectional and State Qualifying events. Without the need for those, or for the option to push those back to what would have been the State Meet Weekend, it allows each of the Sections to expand the time "regular season" would hold contests aimed at the general athlete, not just the Elite.
The decision was also surely aided by the current travel restrictions schools have in place, which affect bussing capacities, as well as hotel stay feasibility. In addition, to this point, competition within New York State has been hyper-local, allowing clusters of schools to agree on a standard of protocols. This would have been the first meet of this scale, requiring an unprecedented level of coordination.
Back in November, Fred Singleton, the Meet Director of the Loucks Games, made similar statements about handling a meet of this scale, and what adjustments might be made to the Springs largest Invitational. You can read that here.
More details to come as they become available.