Nike Indoor Nationals

[rainbowgirl28]

Meet website: http://nikeindoor.nationalscholastic.org/index.php

They haven't posted the entry guidelines for 2007 yet. Last year it was 14-8 for boys and 12-0 for the girls.

Who is hoping to go this year?

[slowest5.50]

We went last year and it was run really poorly They were having trouble setting the standards at the requested distance and they even had to give Roth an extra jump because of a mistake by the official. They had to turn away spectators because the facility was at capacity. There was very little room to warm up and once the competition started athletes were told they couldn't run along the run way to get ready. Between one of my athletes 1st and 2nd attempts he was told by an official he HAD to stand and wait his turn and couldn't do any strideouts or accelerations to get ready for his 2nd attempt. 5 minutes later you could see many athletes doing accelerations and nothing was said. Very frustrating and inconsistant as to how things were being run.
We will not be returning this year!

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.polevaultpower.com/forum/vie ... php?t=7628 is the thread talking about all the problems from last year.

I'll try to get Chelo on here to discuss how those things are going to be addressed this year.

Are people going to NSIC instead?

[hallvaulter]

I believe Shank said we will be going to the NSIC this year if we are all healthy and good to go.

[KYSEAMAN]

I believe Shank said we will be going to the NSIC this year if we are all healthy and good to go.

I hope you are healthy, it will be better competition. I will be there, along with the other vault high athletics athletes.

[vault3rb0y]

I went to NSIC last year, it was pretty good. could have been a better warm-up area, and getting into NYC with poles on a car was a trip! But good runway, well run, i enjoyed myself! This year i will probably be at NIN and then if its possible, rent a car and run up to NSIC. we shall see

[CLCPV04]

Hey guys,

Cannot really comment on the standards problem. Officials are people too and make mistakes. They did what they could to rectify the situation as soon as they realized a mistake had been made. As for warming up on the sidelines, athletes at most elite level events find it tough to stay warm in the vault areas. Indoor track is especially tough because space is so limited with other events going on. The armory is just as tough a place to try and stay loose with the sprints going on right next to you.

As far as the facility goes, the folks at NIN are looking into getting more seats in the building, but its a decision the facility makes, not the event. Many other national level sporting events sell out as well. Funny thing isnt it? Most of the time track athletes wish more people would be watching them, and when the house is packed they want more room. The armory has a max capacity of around 2,000. The Prince George's Sports Complex has seating for 4,000.

Entry standards will remain the same for 2007. 14-9 for boys and 12-0 for girls. The two meets are different at heart. NSIC has much softer qualifying standards in the vault and has large fields of athletes competing over two days. NIN has much tougher standards and a much smaller field competing on one competition day.

Since its inception, NIN has had the more competitive fields across most events, partly due to the amount of funding the event gets to make sure the top athletes are there.

I think its really a shame to have two great meets on the same weekend have to compete with each other. I wish the two groups could cooperate for the better of the sport.

[rainbowgirl28]

I think its really a shame to have two great meets on the same weekend have to compete with each other. I wish the two groups could cooperate for the better of the sport.

Hey in all fairness, NSIC was there first.

[rainbowgirl28]

Cannot really comment on the standards problem. Officials are people too and make mistakes. They did what they could to rectify the situation as soon as they realized a mistake had been made. As for warming up on the sidelines, athletes at most elite level events find it tough to stay warm in the vault areas. Indoor track is especially tough because space is so limited with other events going on. The armory is just as tough a place to try and stay loose with the sprints going on right next to you.

Hey Chelo, can you comment on whether or not the same crew will be officiating the pole vault this year?

[CLCPV04]

In all fairness, NIN and NSIC used to be run by the same individuals. The meets used to be ONE event. In the late 90's some of the individuals did not feel the NSIC was headed in the right direction so they decided to split from the group.

I am unable to comment on officiating for 2007.

[Vaultref]

The Armory seats a little over 4000.
But as correctly noted, it's kinda hard for vaulters to warm-up indoors with all the other action taking place on the track or the infield area.

[AVC Coach]

I don't know much about the NSIC, but the NIN is a fun meet. I do wish the boys and girls both jumped on the same day though.

As for the officiating, sometimes they're great and sometimes not. From some of the stories I've heard Elites tell about their experiences in Europe, I'de say we have it made most of the time.