View From the Stands

by Dawn Kitterman

The much anticipated IMG Academy high school XC Invite, hosted at IMG Academy's sparkling new track and field complex finally took place this past Saturday.

Everyone in this area who knows anything about IMG high school sports, has heard about their newly constructed state of the art multi-sports complex. However, not many of us had seen it until this past Saturday.

IMG's first cross country invitational featured a 3.1 mile course that started and finished in the center of the stadium, with clear views of the clock, jumbo-tron, and the finishing straight away from either the ground or the stands of their new 5,000 seat arena. The majority of the race was run outside of the complex, along a distant tree line and around a small lake that spectators were welcome to hike out to, or climb to the top of the bleachers to see what they could see.

Coaches and runners had preview access in the days prior, and also online with a very professional, colorful and clear course map....  I personally saw many printed versions in circulation at the meet, in the clip boards and pockets of coaches, and in the hands of the athletes.

The course was well marked, and according to the athletes I spoke to, well manned.

The course was also deceptively challenging. From the starting line one might think that it would be a relatively quick and easy course. The Bermuda grass of the stadium field, with an additional short stretch of grass as you travel the course heading away from it, make the 5k appear pretty straightforward. But as your eyes follow the course direction, past the short spans of grass, there on the horizon...you can see it rising up. What from the stands appeared to be a couple of school bus sized dumpings of construction sands left over from the building of this massive facility (later to be known as simply, "The Hill") was actually a compelling portion of the race course.

With the majority of the route's turns covered in their own healthy servings of sand, and an impressively high mounding of sand and shell (soft sugary sand, according to several athletes) which was traveled up and back down 3 times throughout the 5k, the course was kept both interesting and fun.... despite it's lack of wooded tree covered trails. The tree line that the trails hugged against had quality off-road texture, that caused the lead cart to bounce around a bit with each approach to "The Hill".

The sunrise and weather were near perfect the morning of, and was a fitting match to the near perfection of IMG's world class stadium's debut to the high school cross country community. Much of the construction and beautification complete (with the exceptions of the field-house and buildings set to be erected at the opposing end of the field, no hint of those yet) the rest of what IMG was ready to share was.... to put it simply, pretty awesome!

The awards to teams and individuals were a little above the average ribbon, medal, or trophy. And, all and all, for their first go at hosting such an event, I would call it a definite success.

I understand that IMG has plans to host other high school XC events here, as well as track/field meets. I also hear that for now, they are not planning on bidding for anything like state championship hosting just yet, but personally, I believe that if at some point they can, or want to, they should ! They certainly have the facility, technology, and staffing necessary to be such a host.

Besides, the location might make fans and coaches happy. I have heard/read some of the discussions/debate over the years for state championship host sites to be more centrally located. Being that it is about equally as long a drive from Pensacola, as it is from Key West, IMG might fit that bill. The only downside I can think of right now is that hotels are about a 10-15 minute drive away, mostly located around SRQ International Airport with a few options in downtown Bradenton.

Either way, state championship or a circuit invite, IMG seems more than able to accommodate. Everything from their friendly and abundant staff, their jumbo-tron display and state of the art sound and lighting system, the gorgeous box office and entrance with multiple concessions and numerous restrooms, pristine grounds with ample parking and drop off, and I can't forget... the Gatorade Sports Science Institute on site (which kept the Gatorade flowing) have to make IMG an excellent host location to any FHSAA event.

Congratulations to IMG on their beautiful facility and congratulations to all the athletes that participated and conquered, "The Hill".

Full Results

Link to the course map
http://cache.milesplit.com/user_files/310485/0913_cross_country_map.pdf

Online photo album through Google+
https://plus.google.com/photos/+imgacademy/albums/5872722520896523169

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lV2v03XQGoM