The national popularity of indoor track has growth quite a bit over the last few years. Still, in the state of Kentucky, if you wanted to participate in an indoor track meet, your choices were limited. There are the two meets at the University of Kentucky and, of course, the staple--the Mason-Dixon Games. But what about the rest of the state?
Saturday the first annual West Region High School Invitational was held at the Regional Special Events Center in Murray, Kentucky. This allowed the athletes in far western Kentucky a chance to compete without driving four or five hours to Lexington or Louisville. The meet sponsored by Fulton County High School and Murray State Head Track Coach Dereck Chavis. The RSEC has a 220-meter track around the top part of the arena. The RSEC is also the home of the NCAA Tournament bound Murray State Racers Men's Basketball team. This event was the first of, hopefully, many indoor track invitationals held at the RSEC. Meet Co-director Vito Spadafino of Fulton County High School said of this first annual event: "I thought the meet started out rough but hit its stride midway through."
Over 500 athletes competed, with Fort Campbell winning the girls team title and Paducah Tilghman winning the boys title. As is the case with many track meets, the most exciting race of the day was the 1600-meter relay. The boys finished the event strong, with Paducah Tilghman overcoming Daviess County and Henderson County in less than 1.5 seconds with a 3:37.02.
As a graduate of Murray State University, I want to thank Coach Spadafino and Coach Chavis for taking the initiative to host a track meet at the RSEC and helping to improve track in the Purchase Area. The great success of the West Region High School Invitational continues to open the door for indoor track not only in Western Kentucky but throughout the entire state.