The New York State Indoor Championships return to Cornell University's hallowed Barton Hall for the ninth straight year, and action is again going to be intense in a packed-in setting on Saturday, March 1. The girls will go first with 17 events in the morning (the 15 standard ones plus the intersectional relay and the racewalk), and the guys will have pretty much the same set of events in the afternoon. Participants from 11 sections will be competing for the New York State Public High School Athletic Association crowns and also going for Federation titles while vying with the athletes from the mainly NYC-based PSAL public schools, CHSAA Catholic schools, and AIS independent schools. The NY States Indoor Championship has all the action pressed into one day unlike the outdoor meet, and it has no divisions like outdoors or alternating guys and girls events. Each section and NYC association is allowed just one relay team, so each of the relay events generally have 14 teams competing in two heats. Up to three contestants can qualify from each of the 14 total entities in the individual events, so the more popular events like the sprints can have 36 sets of feet on the line, while that race walk oddity had only 21 girls finishing last year. And unlike at outdoors, there is no chance that you will be trying to set a state record running into a vicious wind and driving rain, which sounds a bit like the first day at MIddletown last year. To be honest, States is a mixed bag of great action and big drama that is a bit eclipsed by the specter of all the top teams and athletes that can't be there, either because they're the second and fourth best relay teams in the state but have the top dog in their conference, or the coach would prefer to have the team pointed for Nationals. But for all who make the trip up to Barton Hall, be prepared for a totally exhausting day of screaming and pandemonium and maybe that rare big upset.
