The must-see event in your state

[gh]

If you're speaking of events which the actual residents of that state would be most likely to see, gotta suspect that it's the State Meet just about everywhere, and that even includes Pennsylvania. dj, thoughts?

[bad hammy]

In response to hammy;

I can't speak to 'present day', but,bback in the day ... the CIF-SS championship meet was much more exciting than the state meet. The marks were better, the competition more intense, the crowd much more into the meet ... the state meet, for the most part, was a bit of a post script. There were some Nor Cal v So Cal showdowns as well as isolated CIF v LA City showdowns. Am I wrong here? Modesto and Fresno were indeed big time.

As a norcal boy I never got too excited over the north/south aspect. Southern section is certainly an excellent meet. Both have the same reasons for excellence: a huge pool of quality athletes (no classifications) all going for one prize.

[dj]

If you're speaking of events which the actual residents of that state would be most likely to see, gotta suspect that it's the State Meet just about everywhere, and that even includes Pennsylvania. dj, thoughts?

I agree with your premise, but it's not true for Pennsylvania unless you split the state east and west, which really is the way the state thinks of itself. The meet to see if you're from the western end would be the WPIAL, a 19th century suburban Pittsburgh meet which is now the District 7 meet qualifying to the state. Easterners would still claim Penn Relays is the meet to go to as it draws from so many states and countries.

[tandfman]

And how sad it is that for New York, we cannot say:

Millrose Games

It is obviously the NYC Marathon for New York these days.

The NYCM is the best "attended", if you count people standing on a street corner, paying nothing, and watching runners go by once. If you're a track fan, the must-see event is the Diamond League meet at Icahn Stadium.