VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Meet management from the VA Showcase have announced that the Virginia Beach Sports Center will be the new home to the VA Showcase. This meet moves after calling LU home for four years. In those four years the meet has grown to be the largest in the nation and have 50+ US #1 performances and a staggering 10 national records.
"After four great years at LU our management team has made the decision to move our meet event to Virginia Beach's brand new indoor track complex. This complex will allow our event to continue to grow both in size and impact on our sport. The best meet in the nation is moving to the newest and best track facility in the nation and we will make sure it is the fastest track in the entire United States too!" - Meet Management
The move to Virginia Beach follows the same path as the VHSL who moved the Class 5/6 State Championships there as well. With 4,500 permanent seats and 12 basketball court adjoining the track, this facility should be a great host to future mega-events like the VA Showcase and States.
Both events also see this facility as a longterm home for their events.
"One of the best qualities about this move is what the Sports Center offers as a facility. We are not only getting a faster track and newer surface but also getting 3x as many seats for spectators and 3x as much space for team areas. Not to mention more parking, more hotels, and many more places to eat after the competition is over. All tracks have their selling points but few have basically everything you could even want, VA Beach really has it all. We plan on this facility being our longterm home and since it is run by ESM and the city, we can get our dates for this meet years in advance helping us plan and prepare more than ever." - Meet Founder Nolan Jez
The official list of events for this new facility have not been release yet but it is looking more and more like there will be quite a few high school events held there during the indoor season this year. That could mean some interesting ripple effects down the road like the state meet standards getting way harder now being on a banked track. Of course more people might also hit the standards now that the state will have three banked tracks hosting meets.
Here are some specs and points for the facility:
- Six lane hydraulically banking track
- Eight sprint lanes inside oval and outside oval (similar to VMI)
- Stands dedicated to the throws events
- Large video boards are being installed above 55m start line on back wall
- 4,500 permanent seats (1,400 is LU's listed capacity for seating)
- Two-story mezzanine area for food/beverage sales and consumption
- 12 additional basketball courts connected to track facility (some meets will utilize between 3-6 courts for staging and team areas)
- Located across from Convention Center in Virginia Beach (right off of I-64)