Getting on track
The area’s first invitational track and field meets take place this weekend, though in one case that’s not entirely true, as I’ll explain below.
The weekend begins with tonight’s All “A” Classic at Admiral Stadium. Danville is hosting this meet, open to Class A teams from around the state, for the sixth year.
This year’s edition is essentially a regional preview for Danville, as nine of the 12 visiting teams come from the Admirals’ region, which they’ll also host on May 16.
The Region 4 opponents are Bracken County, Burgin, Carroll County, Frankfort, Lexington Christian, Nicholas County, Owen County, Paris and Sayre. They’ll be joined by Green County, Kentucky Country Day and Somerset.
On Saturday, the area’s oldest invitational moves out of the area for the first time since the 1970s as the Alvis Johnson Heart of the Bluegrass meet moves to Henry Clay. The track at Mercer County’s Alvis Johnson field is in disrepair and won’t pass a required inspection by meet officials, so meet director Terry Yeast went in search of an alternate site.
The meet will still be run by Mercer — and Johnson, the former Harrodsburg coach and longtime meet director, will apparently be on the public address mike as usual — but it’s being held away from the Alvis Johnson Field track for the first time since Harrodsburg assumed control of the meet in the late ’70s.
The 18 participating teams include Mercer, Boyle County, Casey County and Lincoln County as well as schools such as Central, Henry Clay, John Hardin, Rockcastle County and West Jessamine.
