Rock Chalk Park to Host 2017 USATF Junior Olympics
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Rock Chalk Park, the home of Kansas track & field, has been selected to play host to the 2017 USA Track & Field National Junior Olympic Championships it was announced Saturday. The meet, which will be held in Lawrence July 23-30, 2017, will welcome the nation’s top athletes between the ages 7-18.
“When the idea of Rock Chalk Park was born, with the help of so many, this is exactly what Kansas Athletics and Bliss Sports had in mind,” said KU Athletics Director Sheahon Zenger. “This event will have a significant economic impact on the city of Lawrence, and there will be more events to come. This also makes a great statement about the KU track and field program and Head Coach Stanley Redwine. We would not have won this bid without the effort of Bob Sanner and the city of Lawrence, and Cliff Wiley and the Missouri Valley Athletic Association.”
USA Track & Field youth chairs selected Lawrence over Des Moines, Iowa, Saturday at their convention in Houston. The bid for the event was made in conjunction with eXplore Lawrence, the city’s tourism bureau. Zenger, associate athletic director Doug Banks and Redwine made a special trip to Houston to assist in the presentation made by Sanner of eXplore Lawrence.
“We’re very excited for the opportunity to be hosting this marquee event at our home facility,” said Redwine. “Rock Chalk Park is an outstanding facility for this event and being able to bring a high-caliber meet like this to Lawrence and to our home fans is going to be special.”
Rock Chalk Park opened in the spring of 2014 and has twice played host to the Kansas Relays, one of the largest and longest-running high school and collegiate meets in the Midwest, and is set to be the site of NCAA West Preliminary Championships in May of 2016. The Junior Olympics will be the first USATF event held at Jayhawks’ two-year-old facility.
Entry for this championship is based on athlete performances at Preliminary, Association, and Regional levels of the 2017 USATF Junior Olympic Program. Competition takes place in six two-year age divisions, with athletes generally falling between the ages of 7 and 18. Approximately 9,500 athletes are expected to participate over the course of the seven-day event.
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