scrunners: What are you hoping at the Taco Bell Classic after taking a year off?
jones: We want to put on the best meet anyone has ever attended. We want it to be athlete, coach and fan-friendly.
scrunners: Do you feel it will be challenging to bring athletes from the nation to the meet?
jones: It is always a challenge to get top talent. I hope our reputation added with the new facility will bring them here. Those that don't come the first year will hear about the meet and come the next.
scrunners: How are you going about to bring in top athletes?
jones: The NSSF is a big help in getting top athletes. We also make a lot of calls and try to set up great head to head competition. We start with one commitment and them go get others to come after them.
scrunners: What are your goals of the meet?
jones: Our goals are always the same. First, put on a great meet administratively. Make everything efficient so the athletes can perform at their highest level. Second, provide great high school head to head matchups. We want the best to get the competition they don't see in regular meets. Third, we want all the athletes from this area to be able to run in a national caliber meet, close to home, where they can compete with and against the best the country has to offer.
scrunners: What was the reason for the meet not taking place last year?
jones: Last year we did not have the meet because our facility was getting a $12 million renovation.
scrunners: How is the stadium and track and field complex looking?
jones: The facility is just amazing. It looks like a smaller version of the LA coliseum. Everything is new -- the track, the stands, the scoreboard, the restrooms, the concession stands, the parking lots, and the 42 brick arches.
scrunners: What has changed?
jones: The track is Rekortan99 which was used in the 1984 Olympics and many other international meets. it is also at many colleges and has been the track for several NCAA championships. It is endorsed by Michael Johnson.
scrunners: What does it take to organize the meet and how many people?
jones: To organize this meet it takes a great core team of people. This group is basically my coaching staff, Coach Kevin Shaw, John Blackburn of NSSF and a few boosters. From this group we add about 60-70 meet officials, 30-40 boosters, 15-20 security people, 30-40 student athlete helpers, and 20-30 other volunteers and workers. So it takes from 130-200 people all working together. This process is doing something all year long but goes into high gear as soon as cross county season is over.
Photographs courtesy of Spring Valley.