.
Wednesday, April 28, 1999
The University Daily Kansar
Section B·Page 3
Coach wants Relays to fill stands
Continued from page 1B
"People came because they loved to watch track and field. Now there's a lot more going on during the weekend." Schwartz said.
Since their inception in 1923, the Relays were held as a Midwest track meet of the highest caliber. Year in and year out, more than 1,500 athletes would make the trip to Lawrence. They have been canceled only three times previously — during World War II — and ushered in the golden age of Kansas track.
Kansas won a combined 36 indoor and outdoor conference titles between 1946 and 1970, including a string of eight in a row from 1952 to 1959. Kansas won its first outdoor national title in 1959 and would win five more indoor and outdoor national titles between 1959 and 1970. The Relays only served to increase the team's popularity, which culminated in 1972.
The Kansas Relays drew big crowds in the the 1970s. The Relays suffered from flagging attendance since then and have not been held in Lawrence the last two years because of Memorial Stadium renovations. Photo Courtesy of University Archives
Attendance has dropped steadily since then. Only 3,500 fans came in 1996.
Recent Relays still attracted 1,200 athletes but mostly from small colleges and junior colleges.
Indeed, it takes money to organize a high-profile college meet.
"we can have a great college meet. But is it a great meet because there are people in the stands or because of the competition?" Schwartz said.
when world-record holder Maurice Greene came to Kansas in January to run in the Jayhawk Invitational, Anschutz Sports Pavilion was filled with fans — all to see Greene run. The meet consisted mostly of small schools, and the competition was decent, but small. Yet, to fill the stands, it took a high-profile star.
"To put people in the stands, you're going to have to put on a great show." Schwartz said. "A spectacle."
In 1997, Kansas tried a spectacle.
For the first time, the Relays had a corporate sponsor, Columbia HCA, helping to pay attendance fees of 18 Olympic athletes.
It worked, to a point.
A work to a point. Attendance jumped from 3,500 to 4,500 fans. The corporate sponsor brought more attention and a concerted effort during a two-year period for recognizable names. Associate Athletics Director Paul Buskirk said.
Schwartz said he thought those names were necessary for high attendance.
"You've got to have nice features to bring those people in," he said.
Even if fans return for the Relays, teams coming back will have another problem.
Except for the high school teams.
"We can do the high school version in Memorial Stadium right now," Schwartz said.
The Relays have become a mecca for high school teams from Iowa to Colorado. It was so important to the area high school teams that Olathe East temporarily adopted the meet. The Sunflower Classic served as a substitute for the Relays the last two years.
"The high school version has been maintained. Schools kept that date in April open. But college teams can't do that," Buskirk said.
The high school version is ready to move back from Olathe to Memorial Stadium, but, Schwartz said, it would probably be the only version of the Relays next year.
One complication is that college teams have other venues now.
The Mt. SAC Relays, in Carmel, Calif., and the Arkansas Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., have grown the last two years without the Relays. They are both on the same weekend as the Relays would be and present an obstacle that will take years to overcome.
To combat this, Schwartz said he wanted to change the format and make the relags more hospitable to teams. This may change the way things have been done traditionally.
"People seem to like the short sprints, so we might put them all together during Saturday afternoon," he said. "Things like that are probably necessary changes."
With changes, Schwartz is unsure how long it will take before the Relays regain the grandeur of old.
"I don't know," he said. "The scary thing is: Will we ever get back to that point?"
— Edited by Duane Wagler
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