An image from Ocean Breeze's opening day ceremonies.
It was officially announced Tuesday by NJSIAA Assistant Director Bill Bruno to NJ MileSplit that they will be moving the Indoor Meet of Champions to the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island, NY starting 2020.
Ocean Breeze is a state of the art banked track and field facility that just opened in 2015, one of the top indoor track and field venues in the country. The improvements don't just count the track, there is a large grand stand for viewers, two caged throwing areas, plenty of space on a quality surface for the jumps and vaults and the dedicated sand pits open the possibility of more horizontal jumping events.
The triple jump will join the schedule as a showcase event along with the already contested long jump, 4x800m, and 200m.
For now the Sectional and Group Championship meets will remain at the Toms River "Bubble" as contracted.
"We're happy to expand the opportunities that Ocean Breeze offers our athletes," stated Meet of Champions Meet Director Ed Colona after Tuesday's end of season NJSIAA Committee Meeting.
With the bigger venue and more room for spectators the meet will condense back to a one day format. With a packed calendar at the location this also pushes the state meet season back a week. So instead of the last weekend in February this will move the Meet of Champions to the first weekend in March, at least for 2020. This year's date will be Sunday, March 8th.
The Meet of Champions moved to the Toms River "Bubble" facility in 2007 when it first opened after years at the Princeton University located Jadwin Gym. Check out the all-time performance list for the Bubble during this time, some amazing talent has rolled through the past 12 years.
What are your thoughts on the move to Ocean Breeze? Let us know on social media, and in the comment section of the article.
Image from the John Bennett Indoor Athletic Complex, "The Bubble", which has been the Meet of Champions home for the past 12 years.