It could be one heck of a weekend for Greg Foster.
And a very busy one.
Foster, a Lumberton resident who attends Lawrenceville School, is registered for six events at two so-called national championship meets in New York over the next three days.
There’s a “national championship” meet at Ocean Breeze in Staten Island Friday through Sunday and a “national championship” meet 25 miles north at the Armory in Manhattan also Friday through Sunday.
The Princeton-bound Foster is ranked No. 1 in the U.S. in the long jump at 24-8, No. 7 in the triple jump at 48-9 1/2 and No. 7 in the 55-meter hurdles at 7.37 (both meets run 60 hurdles).
And he’s entered in all three events … at both meets.
Friday and Sunday are simple – he’s only at Ocean Breeze on Friday and only at the Armory on Sunday.
The challenge – other than a potential eight events in three days – will be getting from the Armory after the triple jump Saturday to Ocean Breeze in time for the long jump final, assuming he qualifies.
It’s about a 45-minute drive from the Armory to Ocean Breeze. Just drive north to West 178th Street and follow it to Amsterdam Ave and the ramp to the Harlem River Drive. Follow the Harlem River Drive along the Eastern shore of Manhattan to FDR Drive, which you pick up at the Battery in the southern tip of Manhattan, and then take the Hugh Carey Tunnel – commonly known as the Battery Tunnel – into Brooklyn and then the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge into Staten Island, then Lily Pond Road and Father Capodanno Road to Ocean Breeze.
Here’s what Foster’s schedule looks like:
Friday
1:30 p.m., 60 hurdles trials at Ocean Breeze
1:30 p.m., triple jump final at Ocean Breeze
Saturday
9:18 a.m., 60HH trials at the Armory
11 a.m., triple jump at the Armory
2 p.m., long jump final at Ocean Breeze
5:29 p.m., 60 hurdles final at Ocean Breeze
Sunday
10 a.m., long jump final at the Armory
11:27 a.m. 60HH final at the Armory
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 