2004 Arcadia Invitational
Bigger and Better Than Ever!
"California Takes on the Nation" yet again in America's
premier in-season Invitational, with 26 states estimated!
All-time U.S. record 277 DyeStatElite marks at Arcadia 2003!

Dear Coaches,

          We thank you for your interest in the 2004 Arcadia Invitational, which is slated for Friday-Saturday, April 9-10, at Arcadia High School. Based upon early response, it once again appears that most of the state’s premier athletes will converge at Arcadia High for a great weekend of competition against America’s finest out-of-state talents. As of mid-February, leading athletes from all 10 CIF sections and a whopping 26 states have committed to attending the 2004 meet!
          This letter serves to provide you with meet entry information and registration details. Also, you might wish to strongly consider making your hotel reservations at this time, before our allotted blocks of meet-rate rooms are all claimed. Please consult www.ArcadiaInvitational.org and click on the "Travel Info" link for more information on airline and hotel specifics.

REGISTRATION -- You must request a username/passcode!
         Registering for the 2004 meet will be handled on-line through www.DirectAthletics.com , which will help is in minimizing mistakes and expediting the seeding process.
        * On-line registration is now open , and YOU may register your athletes through March 24th using top marks to date. Marks can then be updated by fax (626) 445-8564 or by phone (626) 445-7507 from March 25th to noon on Monday, March 29th, when all entries close. Please do your initial entries on-line through one coach per school, please.
       * To register on-line, go to www.DirectAthletics.com and request to be issued a username and password. Once you make this request, they usually email you a username and password within hours. Once you log in, follow the on-line directions you are provided. Please do not wait until the last day to request your username and password! Request one right away!
       * In the "Seed Mark" section for each athlete, only include his/her best mark per event for the 2004 season. In the "Notes" section for each athlete, include the meet date and meet name where the mark was achieved, also noting if the mark was achieved indoors, at altitude, etc. Please include any other key note (such as 'national champion', 'state champion' etc.). Also, please include the athlete's lifetime best mark in this area, if it is better than his/her 2004 best mark. Seeding decisions are made based on verified marks through Track & Field News, www.DyeStat.com and www.DyeStatCal.com
       * Top verified marks will compete in the featured Invitational (evening) portion, with those missing the cutoff then being considered for seeding purposes into the very competitive Open (day) Meet. Most running events will feature at least two heats in the evening and multiple heats in the day. Field events usually allow for approximately 20-22 entrants per event in each of the three sessions. New for 2004, we are adding a third section of field events on Friday evening, to help accommodate those 'developmental standouts' within your program who otherwise might barely miss qualifying for the Saturday Open Meet.
       * Athletes not qualifying into the night meet will automatically be placed for consideration into the day meet (athletes can qualify into BOTH day and night events). If you are specifically interested in only night-meet participation for a particular athlete, please put "Night Meet Only" in the seed note for that entry. Please understand that if you state "Night Meet Only" for an athlete and he/she does not qualify into the night meet, he/she will no longer be seeded into the day meet of Friday night meet.
      * You are welcome to enter your athletes in any number of events, but we reserve the right to make adjustments for what we feel are impossible combinations within the schedule. Also, each athlete can only compete in a maximum of four events for the 2-day meet.
      * Entry fees for Friday night and Saturday night are $15 for each individual entry and $60 for each relay entry. Saturday morning/afternoon events are $11 for each individual entry and $44 for each relay entry. New for 2004, there is a MAXIMUM cap of $150 for any girls team/boys team, and a MAXIMUM of $250 for the boys/girls entries from a school.
      * Payment of entry fees may be made prior to the meet or at the credentials (packet pick-up) area on the day of the meet. If a school check cannot be obtained prior to the meet, a personal check from the coach will suffice. Do not send payment until entries have been determined and posted. You are only charged for athletes actually seeded into the meet.
      * Notification on entry selection, final time schedule and final meet instructions will be posted online at www.ArcadiaInvitational.org on April the 1st.
      * We will also seed multiple alternates into any running event contested in 9 lanes. If you have an alternate listed in the official entries (denoted by "Alt-Carl Lewis", as an example), please be aware that we will phone you between April 2nd and April 8th if a lane becomes available. If you are not contacted regarding your alternate during that time frame, we strongly encourage you to bring your athlete, as there are alwayschances for scratches on meet day.
      * If you need to scratch an athlete for any reason, you may do so by phone by calling (626) 445-7507, or by emailing [email protected]. Schools will not be charged for any scratch that is made by 3 p.m. on April 7th. Otherwise, a school will be charged for the entry.
      * All competing athletes originally seeded into an event on April 1st will receive a meet souvenir (either a meet backpack or a shoe/spike bag) courtesy of Nike, which will also be retailing official meet apparel. Athletes must compete in order to receive this souvenir.
      * Important note for traveling schools: Because of the added cost of travel, we understand that waiting to purchase airline tickets until after selections have officially been made can be unduly expensive. If you have a very exceptional athlete that is fairly certain to make the night meet and wish to confirm well in advance (so you can proceed in purchasing tickets at a lower rate), you can contact us at (626) 445-7507 to see if athletes can be confirmed a spot. In fairness to all coaches and athletes, these confirmations will only be extended to those athletes projecting to be "a lock" of being seeded into the meet.
      * There are no rain make-up dates. This meet will proceed, rain or shine. Every safe effort will be made to conduct each event during inclement weather.
      We will be able to accommodate nearly every relay team requesting entry into the Friday Night Relays, which has become a very popular addition in its first two years. Whoever you decide to bring, your athletes will find exceptional competition on a very fast surface in front of a packed house, lending great atmosphere for what already ranks as the premier in-season meet in the country (277 DyeStatElite marks in 2003, a national all-time high for an in-season meet.)
      Check out our meet website (www.ArcadiaInvitational.org) for frequently updated information. Should you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us!

In the spirit of education/athletics,

Richard Gonzalez
Meet Director