(4x100m relay athletes approaching their start line at Jesse Owens Stadium)
Photo Credit: Shawn Conlon - MileSplit
By Mark Dwyer - MileSplit
Columbus, OH -- The Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) announced today that their State Track and Field Championships will be moving from Jesse Owens Stadium in Columbus to Dayton's Welcome Stadium for its 2024 edition.
The official release by the state association was anticipated, as news of the matter initially surfaced early last week following a Dayton Public Schools board meeting, where voting on the contract to bring the state meet to Dayton was among the agenda items.
The members of the Dayton Public Board of Education voted unanimously in favor of approving the contract. The Dayton Daily News and The Columbus Dispatch were the first news outlets to report on the outcome of last Tuesday's board meeting.
Today's announcement by the state association, however, expands upon the details which prompted the move. Namely, the current track at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium will be removed and replaced with a new track. That renovation work is scheduled to commence in May and will run all the way through September, making it impossible for Ohio State to maintain its hosting duties this coming year.
Ohio State and the OHSAA are one-year deep into a three-year contract for the state meet to be held at Jesse Owens Stadium. After a successful 2023 Championships and the upcoming one-year reprieve, the meet will return to Columbus for 2025 and 2026 to complete the terms of their current contractual agreement.
In the meantime, the end-of-season mecca appears to be in great hands, as Welcome Stadium has recently modernized its facility by way of a 34 million renovation project that included significant upgrades to the track, press box, concourse area and locker rooms.
"We are excited and honored to be hosting the 2024 State Track Tournament at Welcome Stadium," said Dayton Public Schools Interim Superintendent Dr. David Lawrence. "The District and community have invested a lot into the stadium renovation project, and it is rewarding to now to be hosting a state tournament as a result of those efforts," Dr. Lawrence said.
With an event the size and scope of the State Championships, OHSAA officials expressed gratitude toward Dayton Public Schools for their cooperative efforts with respect to planning and their general excitement to have successfully secured a venue suitable for such a grand-scale meet.
"We are very impressed with the renovations at Welcome Stadium, said Doug Ute, OHSAA Executive Director. It's great to see what Dayton Public Schools has done to the facility and they were very excited right away when we called," Ute said.
The 2024 OHSAA State Track and Field Championships will take place on Friday, May 31st and Saturday, June 1st.
Related Links: