Milton Area High School will host the District 4 Track and Field Championships on Thursday, May 14, starting at 3 p.m. and Saturday, May 16, starting at 9 a.m. There will be 60 schools consisting of all AA and AAA Girls and Boys. Up to 1,000 athletes will compete, in 18 events for boys and girls.
Districts have historically been held at Williamsport. This year their facility is under renovation, so the District 4 Chairman decided to switch to Milton, according to Athletic Director Mr. Rod Harris. “I’m not sure if it will be held here again next year, but I really hope we can host it again next year,” Mr. Harris added.
According to Mr. Harris, District Championships is an invitational, which means only qualified athletes participate. To qualify for Districts, the athletes need to hit a certain time, length or height. Every team in District 4 will be represented.
According to Mr. Harris, on May 14, Milton will have an early dismissal at 12:30 p.m. There is a day between Districts in case of inclement weather. He also added he might have some students help set up for Districts, but other students cannot volunteer because it is run by PIAA officials and adults.
“The biggest challenge with hosting Districts is it being such a large meet. You must be organized and you need a lot of event staff that you can trust,” Mr. Harris said. “It’s been a dream of mine …. As a track coach and a guy who loves track, I’m very excited.”
According to Mr. Harris, concession stands will be open all day serving food and drinks. All the money from fees and concessions will be put back into the athletic funds and the booster club to support Milton’s District athletes, he added.
“It’s a great opportunity for our school district and community to be able to host something this large and to bring every school in the District 4 here and for us to be able to showcase our facilities,” added Mr. Harris.
Track Coach Mr. Jonathan Dick said that to prepare for Districts, the coaches need to figure out logistics, such as where spectators and busses will park.
“To prepare Milton’s facilities, we need to make sure the facility and bathrooms are clean, the concession stand is stocked with food and drinks and make sure Milton has enough parent volunteers,” added Coach Dick.
According to Coach Dick, hosting Districts gives Milton’s athletes both disadvantages and advantages. The disadvantages include the coaches constantly focusing on the meet and making sure everything goes right. The team has advantages include that it’s home field. Athletes know how to jump right, throw right, how the wind will hit the athlete when they’re running compared to every other athlete, who have only competed at Milton a handful of times, he added.
“We have a very young team of athletes. There’s a big difference between an 18-year-old athlete and 15-year-old athletes competing against each other so, my expectations is for the athletes to grow and buy into this sport,” said Coach Dick.
According to Coach Dick, the most rewarding part of hosting Districts is bringing all of District 4 together to see Milton’s stadium and to see athletes improve and reach their accomplishments.
“This is a phenomenal opportunity for our school to showcase the amazing school we have. I’m extremely proud not just from an athletic standpoint but of everything that we do. I’m excited for the opportunity to bring outsiders in to see the wonderful school district we have,” said Milton Principal Mr. Michael Bergey.
“I hope visiting athletes take away that we have not just a great facility but great people who care about athletes will be here working the meet and helping,” he added.
According to Mr. Bergey, he wants the athletes competing in Districts to do their best, represent the school and community of Milton well, and he is proud of everyone who made it this far.
Mr. Harris added that tickets will be $10 each day and are only sold on piaad4.net/tickets/.
