Fast Virginia Beach Sports Center hosts runners from around nation
VIRGINIA BEACH — So many high school sports seasons have been pushed back, and in some cases canceled, because of the coronavirus.
That’s what made last week’s VA Beach Club Opener meet special.
First, it was the nation’s first indoor track meet of the new season. Second, it was the first meet held at the Virginia Beach Sports Center, a $68 million stateof-the-art indoor facility located on 19th Street near the Oceanfront.
The VA Beach Club Opener brought in more than 1,200 athletes from almost 30 states, including as far as Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado, Texas and Ohio.
Nolan Jez, the meet’s organizer, said he was glad to see the meet go on.
“Virginia Beach did everything they could to make it the best facility in the world,” he said. “And I felt that I owed it to the city. ... I just felt like I had to get it done.”
Jez said he worked with Nancy Helman, Visit Virginia Beach’s director of sports marketing; Dani Timm, sports marketing national sales manager; and Eastern Sports Management, which oversees the operations of the Virginia Beach Sports Center, to make sure they offered a safe meet.
But that also meant two long days for everyone involved.
The coronavirus restrictions limited public gatherings to 250
people and 25 spectators. To make it work, Jez and his officials had to empty the building after each session.
“All the girls in the 800 meters was one session,” he said. “And a spectator would buy a ticket for just that session. Then after it was over, we cleared the building out after every event.”
The first day of the meet took 17 hours to complete. The second day took 15 hours.
“And I think it was probably a 19-hour day for the Eastern Sports Management team,” he said, “because they got there before us and then after us.”
The meet was livestreamed on MileStat.com for those out-of
state fans, or fans who couldn’t get inside or didn’t want to go inside.
“It was hopefully a good option for those who couldn’t afford to come to the meet or didn’t feel safe coming to the track,” he said.
Jez said the track surface was good as advertised — very fast.
In the boys 400 meters, three runners — including two from Virginia — ran under 48 seconds in one heat. Last season, only seven boys nationally ran under 48 seconds.
“This is the fastest and best track in the country,” Jez said.
Landstown senior Mia O’Neil would agree. She ran personal-best times in the 200 and 400. This comes after she missed the spring outdoor season and summer track circuit because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Tennessee signee ran 56.12 seconds to finish second out of 109 runners in the 400. She ran 25.04 to place fourth out of 145 runners in the 200.
“I personally liked the track,” she said. “I really appreciate the fact that it was a banked track because I haven’t been able to run on a banked track my entire high school career. It felt really good. I would definitely consider it one of the fastest tracks.”
She admits the experience was much different from what she’s used to. But she’s glad she got a chance to compete.
“It was definitely a lot different with the whole COVID restrictions and the different protocols,” she said. “But for the most part, it was really great. It was really good to run again and be able to compete.”
Jez has several other meets scheduled this season at the Virginia Beach Sports Center, including the VA Showcase, the nation’s largest indoor track meet.
“If we can legally hold the meet, we’re going to have it,” Jez said about the meet scheduled for Jan. 14-17. “But we want to make it safe for the athletes, the spectators, the officials and the workers, because I don’t want to be the cause of having something being spread around. I want to be a good model of what youth athletics can look like in this new normal.”