Omaha, Nebraska – June 6th, 2024, USATF Nebraska is excited to announce that it will be back at the beautiful Gretna High School Track and Field Complex to host the 2024 USATF Nebraska Junior Olympic Championships (JO’s)! “Last year was a huge success at Gretna, with more than 30 teams from across the state participating and over 2000 entries in our multi-day event. When you add in all the great food trucks and vendors, this was an amazing event all around. Even with all the success, our team has worked hard to make this annual event even bigger and better! In 2024 we opening up the competition to post Collegiate, Open and Masters athletes. This will allow anyone, at any age to compete in track and field, at a very high-level”, according to USATF Nebraska President Mike Maryott. 

The meet will officially start on June 11th, with the Hammer Throw, Javelin and Steeplechase being held at the University of Nebraska- Lincoln. “We are thrilled to be back at UNL, our athletes really enjoyed competing at the state of the art facilities in Lincoln. We coming off of our Outdoor Championship meet at Doane University and we’re seeing a huge interest in the steeplechase and the hammer throw, UNL gives our athletes an opportunity to compete these events that they normally would not have.” according to USATF Nebraska Youth Chair, Wade Lanum. “We will have some of the top throwers in the country competing in Lincoln, with possibly several D1 commits showcasing their skills,”, said Lanum

We will start in Gretna with our Multi-events on June 12th and 13th. Events on the track start on Friday, June 14th at 5 pm until dark, then kick back up again on Saturday morning June 15th, with a full day of action.

Youth Athlete’s can register for the Gretna JO meet at – https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/548917/register

Masters and Open Athletes register online at – https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/564194/register

For Nebraska Athletes to participate in the USATF National Junior Olympics this year, they must place in the top 8 at the USATF Nebraska JO qualifying meet to move on the Region 8 Championships in Aberdeen, South Dakota. The top five at regionals move onto the National Junior Olympics.

The USATF National Junior Olympics will be held at Texas A&M University and College Station, Texas at the end of July. 

We have athletes all across the state who would love to tell their amazing stories. 

If you are interested in learning more or to schedule an interview please reach out to Matt Scott at communications@nebraska.usatf.org

FYI – Several helpful links to our social media, website and upcoming events are attached on the last page of this release. 

About USATF Nebraska 

USATF Nebraska is a 501c nonprofit that is made of volunteers from across the state of Nebraska. Our primary focus is facilitating and promoting track and field in Nebraska following the guidance of our national governing body USATF. The Nebraska Association currently has over 10,000 members and sanctions over 40 events each year in the state, including the Nebraska Junior Olympic (JO’s) Championships held each year in June. Our Junior Olympic Championship meet is the second largest youth track meet each year in Nebraska, second only to the High School Championships. The top 8 finishes from the Nebraska JO’s advance on to regionals and a chance to compete at the National Junior Olympic Championships. 

About USATF

USA Track & Field (USATF), based in Indianapolis, is the National Governing Body for track and field, long-distance running, and race walking in the U.S. The organization provides leadership for Athletics, the most-watched events of Olympic broadcasts, and develops and selects Team USATF, #1 in the World.

The organization also provides leadership to school-aged, prep, collegiate, and adult athletic programs and competitions. With more than 30 million adult runners in the US, the organization’s activities are broad, encompassing sanctioning more than 8,000 events annually and nurturing grassroots programs, such as the Junior Olympics, to help develop the future stars of the sport.

Additional Information and resources 

Check us out Online and Get Social:

Website – www.nebraskausatf.org

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/nebraskausatf

Twitter – https://twitter.com/usatfnebraska

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/usatfnebraska

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/usatfnebraaka 

All the details and dates are below for qualifying for the 2024 National Junior Olympics : 

Nebraska Association Junior Olympics | Gretna H.S. | June 11th – 15th, 2024. Meet info here – https://bit.ly/2024NebraskaJOmeet 

USATF Region 8 Junior Olympics | Northern State University, Aberdeen, SD |July 4th – 7th, 2023 |  Meet info here –  https://usatfregion8.org/regional-championships/

USATF Junior Olympics | College Station, TX | July 22nd – 28th, 2023  | Website – https://bit.ly/USATFNationalJOmeet

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