A History Of The NEOITC Series By Co-Founder Mark Shafer

This year the Northeast Ohio Indoor Track and Field Conference meets hosted by Maple Leaf Track Club will involve 89 boys and girls teams from Amherst to Youngstown to Erie, PA. No one envisioned this when it began with Thursday Night Invites in 2013.

The meets were born out of frustration with the logistics of the sport which was exploding in 2011-2012. It was often impossible to get more than a handful of athletes into some meets. The tipping point was when a big local meet decided to limit entries after registrations were complete and cut all of the athletes with inferior marks and times at the last minute. 

The Maple Leaf Track Club (MLTC), founded by Dr. Mark Mendeszoon and Mark Shafer worked with Charlie Powell, the new director at the SPIRE Institute to create Thursday Night Invites in 2013. The first meet held on Jan 10th, 2013 involved athletes from Chardon, Geneva, Twinsburg, Kenston, Madison, and Edgewood along with a few others, from schools who didn't have Indoor T&F programs, through MLTC. There were two more Invites that winter that added Cleveland Heights, Mentor, St. Ignatius, Euclid, and Villa Maria/Cathedral Prep from Erie PA. 

The following year, 2014, we limited the field to 8 schools. 

In 2015, we formed the Northeast Ohio Indoor Track and Field Conference (NEOITC) and expanded to two divisions, Erie and Buckeye, so there were now ~32 boys and girls programs involved. There was one fee for the whole season, including an All-Star meet for the top 16 in each individual event. Each boys and girls program needed to provide one person to assist with a field event, set up hurdles, watch exchange zones, etc. 

Charlie Powell and his staff at SPIRE were instrumental in making these meets work on many levels. 

Dave Woytek and his staff at Lightning Timing have timed every meet and make sure things move smoothly and quickly. 

Ten lanes on the straight, 8 lanes around the curves, and an outstanding timing crew enable us to start a meet with 500-700 entries at 5 pm and have it completed by 9 pm. This is a far cry from the days of travelling across the state, to Western PA and to West Virginia when we might leave at 6 am Saturday morning and return after 9 pm in the evening. 

For the last couple years we have had three divisions of ~20 boys and girls programs. Two were on Thursday nights and we were able to add a Friday night division which enabled schools from further away to participate. Each program had 4 individual entries/event and 2 teams in each relay. Each program still provided one volunteer to assist with the meets. There was at least one certified official at every field event. 

Last year, Covid-19 threw a wrench into many plans. Well established meets throughout the state were cancelled, leaving few competitive opportunities. The SPIRE Institute was also sold and purchased by a new owner and would not be run as a non-profit any longer. Right up until the first meet began there was doubt about the NEOITC series continuing. Fortunately, the new owners at Spire took a patient approach and enabled Charlie Powell to provide the leadership necessary for meets to continue. As a result, we had far more teams request to join than we could accommodate. 

This past summer, MLTC and Spire Institute met to discuss the possibility of continuing the NEOITC meets in a for-profit environment. Jeff Orloff and the staff at SPIRE made clear that they were all-in on making these meets happen. Changes were necessary to cover costs, but some creative solutions meant negative impacts were minimized and we were able to expand to 4 divisions. 

The NEOITC meets work because the people in Maple Leaf Track Club, the staff at SPIRE Institute, the officials, and the coaches of every team believe in the value of this sport and want to make each meet the best possible experience for each athlete. 

We look forward to working with MileSplit this year to share nearly all of our meets with those who may be unable to attend the meets in person. We are excited to increase the visibility of Indoor Track and Field and bring attention to the achievements of our athletes. 

-- Mark Shafer / NEOITC Series Co-Founder