Movin' On Up!
July, 10- The Long & Strong Throwers Classic's success created a pleasant problem. Lancaster McCaskey High School hosted the meet for its first four years. The facilities were good and McCaskey was even better to the club, but the meet was growing each year. More and more participants made for a longer and longer meet. This was the most obvious in the discus/hammer circle, where flight after flight dragged on, and in turn, prevented participants from moving on to other events.
So the club went in search of alternative venues. That search was very short. Our friends at nearby Cocalico High School, in Denver, PA, offered their facilities. The great advantage at Cocalico were two sets of shot/discus circles, situated between the high school and middle school. The competitors were split into under-age 50 and over 50, and sent to different sets of circles at each end of the field. Ten officials and a load of teenage volunteers kept the 62 throwers moving through their paces.
The weather was sunny and so was the participant's responses. All seemed to be genuinely pleased with the new venue and the meet's organization. Thanks so much to Jeff Bertz and Scott Krall of Cocalico for their great support. Concessions were handled by the school, and those golf carts came in real handy throughout the day. Jeff and Scott paid close attention to the details and it showed!
Participants came from ten states, including discus thrower Greg Hart, flying in from Nebraska attempting to solidify his qualifying mark for the Olympic Trials.
But what if we continue to grow? Anyone have three sets of circles???