NJSIAA Assistant Director Derryk Sellers has emailed out to schools that barring any further setbacks the Bubble should be good to go for State Sectionals starting on February 11th.
"We will remain in consistent communication with the staff at Toms River and if there are any changes an announcement will be made. Thank you for your patience during this time as we try our best to continue to work for our student athletes," Sellers added.
Note while this is good news this is still a developing situation and this announcement only concerns the potential return for the NJSIAA meets.
After reaching out to the Bubble, while an official statement hasn't been released to NJ MileSplit, our contacts are planning for a return in time for Sectionals. The venue is still in the process of repairing tear damage and cleaning up from the storm. They are hoping to be back up to operational levels soon.
They also wanted to shout out to those on the job to get the facility open again, noting John Bisciotti and the Toms River Maintenance crew working around the clock to repair any damage done by the storm.
Teams involved with meets outside of the NJSIAA tournament originally scheduled during this time should not assume their meet is back on.
Related: Bubble Deflated Due To Snow Storm
If all goes well and the Bubble is back to full working order in time this would be a major hurdle cleared for the 2022 New Jersey indoor track and field season.
Last week's snow storm caused the venue's deflation and some tear damage leading to cancelled meets and a potential danger to the current State Championship schedule.
Trying to find a place to compete this late into the season for the large and numerous NJSIAA State Championships meets would not have been easy. But luckily it seems the events should be able to go on as planned.
State Seeding Note
Derryk Sellers also wanted to address seeding questions he's been receiving.
- Seeds must be from this season, on a 200 meter track, and F.A.T. verified by MileSplit.
- The closing dates for all the Sectionals and Groups have been extended by one day.
- Groups 1 and 4 Sectionals: Close Monday, February 7th, 11:59pm.
- Groups 2 and 3 Sectionals: Close Monday, February 14th, 11:59pm.
- Non-Public Groups: Close Monday, February 21st, 11:59pm.
- Showcase Events for MOCs must be accepted by March 2nd at Noon.