North Shore High School welcomed over 2,000 runners for its 22nd Track and Field Invitational. Over 60 school districts were represented at the annual event, which took place on Saturday, May 10. The runners competed in a wide range of events.
“This has become the largest one-day spring track and field meet on Long Island,” said the girls’ track coach, Neil Levy, a health education teacher at the high school.
Levy, who joined the district in 2002, started the invitational in 2003 to allow athletes of all levels to experience competition. He said invitationals are commonplace throughout the season, but that he wanted to form an “all-inclusive” invitational that catered towards different ability levels.
“I wanted to create something that all teams and all levels of athletes could participate in,” he said.
What started off small quickly evolved into something more, Levy said.
Levy said he hopes to cater the experience towards the participants and tries to be as “coach and athlete-friendly” as possible when it comes to scheduling and organization, learning from different meets and competitions that the team has attended throughout the years.
Levy said attendance has fluctuated in recent years, but the scope of the invitational has continued to grow. In the early years of the invitational, Levy said it was predominantly Nassau teams who attended, but now, the annual event sees teams from Nassau, Suffolk, and New York City.
Levy said the event also doubles as a fundraiser for the North Shore Track and Field program.
Athletes competed in 18 events, from the 100-meter dash to the two-mile run. Field events, including the pole vault, shot put, high jump and long jump, took over the high school’s Stadium Field.
“Thank you to all the parents and student volunteers, the high school custodians, maintenance crew, security guards, athletes, and alumni who all took part in this incredible day,” Levy said.
