The 2020 National Scholastic Championships – until recently the New Balance Outdoor Championships – are tentatively scheduled for late July and early August, but if they are held it won’t be in Greensboro.
The National Scholastic Athletics Foundation announced Thursday that if the meet is held on its new date – the weekend of July 30-Aug. 2 – it will be in South Dakota.
The meet has been held at Aggie Stadium in Greensboro on the campus of North Carolina A&T& University since moving across North Carolina from Raleigh after the 2005 meet.
But North Carolina AT&T’s campus is closed through the end of August at the earliest because of COVID-19 concerns so the stadium is unavailable.
Meet officials said Thursday a decision on whether to hold the meet will be made by June 15, which is a week from Monday.
If it is held, it will be at 10,000-seat Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls, which is currently expected to be available under local and state guidelines.
Obviously, the move 1,300 miles northwest from Greensboro to Sioux Falls would eliminate most if not all of the South Jersey entries that were still considering competing if the meet is held.
The NSAF doesn’t currently have a sponsor for outdoor nationals. The meet in the past has been sponsored by Nike, Foot Locker, American Airlines, adidas and until recently New Balance.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 