Great American announces big changes in 2001

Original announcement of 2001 changes

An early morning flood this past September, which delayed the start of the meet by seven hours and threats of cancellation by park officials prompted a search for a new site. Meet organizer Rick Hill stated, "the flood and the public sector response was the wake-up call, but a combination of other issues really prompted a serious look for a new location." Hill cited problems associated with the sewer overflow during heavy rains, the tight starting area, and narrowness of the entire course, as other considerations. He also said, "McAlpine will just not meet our long term goals for a true championship venue. Likewise, Great American has grown to a point where the race must have proactive community support."

After considering seven locations in the Charlotte area, the search has narrowed to the Stowe Botanical Gardens, located twenty miles south of downtown Charlotte; the Milliken Research Center in Spartanburg, South Carolina; and Byrd Park in Richmond, VA. The Stowe site features a world class visitors center, open meadows, and ridge trails over-looking the Catawaba River. The Spartanburg site has a dedicated cross-country site, which hosted the 1995 NCAA Division II Championships and last year's Junior Olympic Championships. Byrd Park is a classical turn of the century, landscaped urban park. Hill stated, "All three of these sites will exceed our requirements. Our final selection will go to the city that will best support our long term plan which includes many levels above our current short term goals for Great American. " He went on to say that while the Stowe Botanical Gardens is his first choice, the location is still largely underdeveloped and the other potential locations have strong city support.

The Festival organizers also released a tentative plan to create a series of high school cross-country races in 2001 called "The Great Races of America". Cities under consideration for the series of high profile national and international class races include Bloomington (IN), Chicago (IL), Lawrence (KS), Dallas (TX), New York (NY), Ogden (UT), Orem (UT), Provo (UT), San Diego (CA), and San Francisco (CA). Several national parks are also under consideration.

"In regards to the Great Races of America, we have a simple objective to provide the best competition in the United States for as many high school teams as possible", Hill said. "We cannot achieve this objective by expecting every school in the nation to travel to the south. Additionally, if they all want to travel to Charlotte, we could not handle them. Some vital Midwest states have travel restrictions, other schools have long established invitations that conflict with the Great American date, and some schools simply cannot afford to fly to a southeast location." Therefore, officials are considering the creation of a traveling event where the show goes to the schools. The plan is to create a 21^st century cross-country road show that travels from town to town."

Initially, meet organizers were only seeking a replacement site for McAlpine. But Hill noted that Great American would likely grow to 5000 runners in 2001 and to over 10,000 runners by 2003, in its present format.

"Unlike other large races located in major metropolitan markets, Great American's growth will come from teams located outside of the region. Managing teams from 35 or more states and in groups of up to 60 people is a real logistical challenge and it requires a level of management not currently in place," Hill added.

"Planning models project the continuation of a very dynamic event, but one that is very predictable, consistent in quality, and includes impeccable order. When you add more levels of pageantry and entertainment, while increasing the level of competition, a full time meet management organization is required. Consequently, the best way to support this type of an organization is to move to a multiple site format."

"While our research indicated multiple sites could provide a much better package for sponsors and provide more options for teams nationwide, I am determined not to dilute our flagship race in any way." Therefore, Hill said that his current focus is to finalize details for the southeast site by December 31, 2000.

"We will next concentrate on building a management system and a management team that will allow for substantial growth. Other venues will only be added when we have our systems in place," Hill said.

"When we add other locations they will have a unique geographic focus or support the flagship race." Hill gave several examples: "A race in the Midwest will bring a Great American unique experience to states that have 300 to 500 miles travel limits. A race in the Rocky Mountain Region will be a King of the Mountains Challenge and include international teams who live and train at altitude."

Additionally, the multiple location formats will make it economically feasible for Great American to bring international teams to the United State. "With the Great Races of America series, races on back to back weekends in different cities will allow us to spread the cost of a team from East Africa over several races. An Ethiopia team could race in Utah one weekend and Charlotte the next weekend and New York the following weekend, before returning home."

High School teams from Canada, Mexico, Ireland, Great Britain, Ethiopia and Kenya are under consideration for future these races. A timetable for introducing the International Division has not been determined.

Great American was first conducted in 1999 at McAlpine Greenway Park in Charlotte, which is home of the North Carolina State cross-country meet, the Foot Locker South regional site and several other secondary invitationals. In the inaugural year, the festival attracted approximately 1800 athletes from 23 states. This past September the event grew to over 3100 athletes. However, the depth and quality of nationally ranked teams that competed the past two years, distinguishes Great American from other cross-country races.

In 1999 and 2000 the competition brought together the majority of the nation's top 20 teams to compete in Charlotte's McAlpine Greenway Park. Historic y national powers which compete in Great American include Bend (OR), Bingham (UT), Christian Brothers Academy (NJ), Kingwood (TX), Long Beach Poly, (CA), Mead (WA), Mountain View (UT), and The Woodlands, (TX). This year's races included match-ups between the nation's number one and number two ranked boys teams and four of the nations top five girls' teams. The winner of both the boys' race, Mt. View, and the girls' race, Saratoga Springs, are currently ranked number one in the nation by the Harrier Cross-Country Report (Rockford, Michigan is tied with Saratoga). Ironically, both of the runner-ups teams, Long Beach Poly boys and Campbell County girls, are currently ranked number one in the other national poll, conducted by XC.Track.com.

Rick Hill, meet director, can be contacted at 8710 Lake Challis Lane, Charlotte, NC, 28226. To reach Hill by e-mail, contact him at [email protected]. His home telephone number is 704-341-4272.