The NCAA will crown 36 national champions next month in Nampa — with the majority of the action taking place in two 5-hour windows at the cozy Jacksons Indoor Track.
The NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships are March 9-10.
The men’s and women’s fields are elite, the arena is enclosed and small and the stakes are high — a combination that should create plenty of drama.
“Fourteen to 18 of the best athletes in NCAA Division I line up and basically push for a title in individual events, and also the team aspect of going out and scoring points to see who’s going to bring home the team trophy,” Boise State coach J.W. Hardy said.
“… It generates that type of excitement, that atmosphere, where records can go down.”
The indoor championships will be held in the West for the first time. Boise State and the Idaho Center, which owns the building that houses the track, wanted to attract the national event when the deal was struck a decade ago to create the venue.
In the past 23 years, only three cities have hosted the event — Indianapolis; Fayetteville, Ark.; and College Station, Texas.
“We’re just excited to continue to strengthen the relationship between track and field and our community,” Hardy said. “One thing you always want to do is be able to go out and build your fan base. … This presents an opportunity to hopefully find some new fans.”
This is the fourth time Boise State has hosted an NCAA national championship and the sixth different sport in which the school has hosted at least the first round of NCAA competition.
“Any time we think we have a facility and the timing to do it, we attempt to do it,” Associate Athletic Director Mike Sumpter said. “… The valley is so receptive and does such a great job that it’s a natural.”
The school had no trouble finding the 100 needed volunteers but still has more than 2,000 tickets to sell for each of two sessions.
The NCAA took a chance moving the event to Idaho after finding homes at Arkansas and Texas A&M.
“I do like having the meet in a stable site,” said Vin Lananna, the associate athletic director who runs the powerful Oregon track and field program, “a community that will support it and a venue that accommodates all the things that need to happen. For me, that’s kind of a big deal.”
For the Broncos’ athletes, knowing the event will be held in their building has served as unique motivation. Only one Bronco qualified for the indoor nationals last year, but a half-dozen or more are capable of reaching the event this year.
“I don’t want to be there watching it,” sprinter/long jumper Racquel Jones said. “I want to be competing in it.”
Added weight thrower Mele Vaisima: “I’m looking forward to being able to compete with elite throwers. It’s also been one of my dreams to compete at nationals and having nationals here in Idaho, it’s a great chance for me to fulfill that dream.”
Dreams will be plentiful at the Jacksons Indoor Track.
So will heartbreak.
“Typically, it comes out to be a really exciting conclusion,” Lananna said, “and the last few years it has come down to the last couple events as to who will win (the team titles).”
THE FIELD
The NCAA invites 14 to 18 athletes per event, with 34 individual or relay championships and two team titles (men’s, women’s) on the line. Athletes can earn automatic berths by meeting predetermined standards. The rest of the field in each event is filled with the top performers who didn’t reach the standard.
Boise State expects about 650 athletes and more than 200 coaches to participate in the event.
Boise State coach J.W. Hardy guesses at least 10 of the athletes in the indoor nationals will compete in the 2012 Olympics in London. Boise State’s Kurt Felix, who qualified for the national meet Saturday, hopes to represent Grenada in the decathlon.
There also will be some ties to the gridiron. Florida has three football players on its track team, including running back Jeff Demps, the two-time defending national champion in the 60 meters. Demps already has qualified for the indoor nationals and has decided to give up football to focus on the Olympics.
IDAHO HOPEFULS
The three Division I schools in Idaho have qualified two athletes so far, but the schools have some other contenders.
• Boise State: Heptathlete Kurt Felix finished 11th at the NCAA indoors last year and qualified Saturday for this year’s meet. Felix earned 5,771 points in the Saturday’s meet at Jacksons Indoor Track, surpassing the qualifying mark of 5,750 points and his old school record of 5,691 points. Weight throwers Mele Vaisima and Trevor Kraychir are the Broncos’ other top contenders.
• Idaho: Hannah Kiser, who qualified for the NCAA cross country meet, qualified in the 3,000 meters Saturday with a school-record 9:07.23. Moscow High grad Jeremy Klas has qualified for indoor nationals twice in the pole vault, including a ninth-place finish in 2010. Liga Velvere set a school record last weekend in the women’s 800 meters.
• Idaho State: Mike Arnold is the defending Big Sky indoor and outdoor champion in the pole vault, and Highland High grad Bradi Hutchison set a school record in the 3,000 meters last month.
THE VENUE
The Jacksons Indoor Track is inside the two-acre Sports Center at the Idaho Center in Nampa. The facility, completed in 2002, houses the track from November to March. The rest of the year it’s used for horse shows.
“The building is basically going all the time,” said Ken King, marketing director at the Idaho Center.
The Sports Center is owned by the city of Nampa. Boise State helped with construction costs and bought the track largely with a $250,000 donation from John D. Jackson, the founder of Jacksons Food Stores.
The seating capacity has been increased over the years. It can hold more than 3,500 people for the NCAA meet, with about 900 of those seats reserved for participants. The NCAA requires at least 3,500 seats and prefers 5,000.
To secure the NCAA bid, a lobby was added a couple of years ago that includes concessions, lockers, showers and meeting rooms. The Idaho Horse Park foundation — the Sports Center is part of a 100-acre horse park — raised $900,000 for the upgrade, which also has brought larger horse shows to the Treasure Valley than were possible previously, King said.
“It became a full-service facility at that point,” Boise State associate athletic director Mike Sumpter said. “Before that lobby, it was a building that had a track in there. Those amenities are really important for hosting championships.”
The high-end Mondo track is a 200-meter, banked, six-lane oval, a rarity in college track and field but the specifications required for the NCAA championships. Field events, except for the shot put and weight throw, and the 60-meter sprints are staged in the infield.
Arkansas, Texas A&M, New Mexico and Nebraska are among the schools with similar setups. Arkansas hosted the national event from 2000 to 2008 and in 2010. Texas A&M hosted in 2009 and 2011. The event returns to Arkansas next year.
The NCAA indoor championships never have been held in the West.
“With the focus of generating a variety of experiences for the participating student-athletes, the Division I Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Committee has been discussing its interest in expanding the list of viable hosts for indoor track and field for some time now,” said Cameron Schuh, the associate director for public and media relations at the NCAA. “These discussions had been ongoing when Boise State was awarded the bid to serve as the 2012 championships host.”
Boise State is the only qualifying indoor track in the Northwest, Sumpter said. That could change soon with Oregon in the planning stages for an indoor venue that would meet NCAA requirements.
MEET SCHEDULE
Friday, March 9
Competition: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Highlights: The heptathlon (10 a.m.-2 p.m.) and women’s weight throw (2 p.m.) are the only events before 5 p.m. The evening schedule includes men’s and women’s finals in the long jump, 5,000 meters, 200 meters and distance medley relay.
Saturday, March 10
Competition: 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m.
Awards: 9:05 p.m.
Highlights: The heptathlon and pentathlon are the only events before 3 p.m. The evening schedule includes the men’s and women’s finals in the mile (6:15 p.m.), 60 meters (7:15 p.m.) and 4x400 relay (8:25 p.m.).
ON TV
ESPN3.com will provide live coverage beginning at 3:30 p.m. March 9 and 4 p.m. March 10. ESPNU will show a special on the event at 5:30 p.m. March 18.
TICKETS
Organizers have sold about 400 tickets. However, out-of-town visitors are expected to buy tickets as the field is finalized, so officials say now is the time for locals to buy.
All-session tickets (two sessions) are $50 adult reserved, $45 adult general admission, $37 senior/student reserved and $30 senior/student general admission.
Single-session tickets are $30 adult general admission and $20 senior/student general admission.
They are available at ICtickets.com or NCAA.com/tickets and by calling 442-3232.
NCAAS AT BOISE STATE
Men’s and women’s outdoor track and field national championships: 1994, 1999
Women’s gymnastics national championships: 2000
Men’s basketball, first two rounds: 1983, 1989, 1992, 1995, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2009
Women’s basketball regional: 2002
Women’s gymnastics regional: 1994, 1998
Men’s tennis regional: 2000, 2005
Source: Boise State
TEAM RANKINGS
Men: Arkansas, Florida*, LSU, Texas, Arizona
Women: Oregon*, LSU, Clemson, Arkansas, UCF
* indicates defending national champions
