By the time the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association's Outdoor Track and Field Championships wrap up Sunday evening, one thing will be for certain - everybody involved will have learned a whole lot.
Lincoln University, which will host the event starting today at Dwight T. Reed Stadium, has not hosted a college track meet since 1999. So getting up to speed on how to put on a premier event brought with it a steep learning curve.
"It's been fun, I've learned a lot about college track, because there are some differences from high school," meet director Dennis Licklider said. "We didn't realize that the steeplechase and the high jump couldn't go on at the same time until somebody pointed it out. That might not work so well."
That's because the pool of water used in the steeplechase's water jump crosses into the approach zone for the high jump. That water jump is just one sight that might be new to fans at the event who have only attended high-school meets before. Another odd occurrence? Runners going the "wrong way" on the track.
"I was not aware of this, but in college, they go with the wind," said Tim Abney, the event coordinator from inside the Lincoln athletic department. "So they may reverse it and go the opposite way. In high school, they always go the same way. But now, if the wind hits a certain level, we will have to turn the running events around and go the other way."
That helped explain some markings on the track surface Abney had often noticed, but never given much thought.
"Three or four years ago, when we resurfaced the track, what was good was when the put the markings down, they did it so you can go both ways," he said. "We did not have to go hire somebody to come in quickly and add it, the settings were already there. That's been the most unique thing to me."
But it's the steeplechase, which takes place at 12:25 p.m. Sunday, which has garnered most of the attention. The pit for the water jump got a good cleaning-out Tuesday, and the barrier that's been installed on the water jump is a new one since the old one had rusted together after going unused for years.
And in a show of good sportsmanship, Lincoln didn't have to purchase the four other ordinary barriers used in the event, as a fellow conference member stepped up.
"The University of Central Missouri allowed us to use their steeplechase barriers," Abney said. "Other schools have stepped up and said, "If you don't have this or that, we're willing to lend it to you so you do.' It has been a joint effort from the conference office all the way down."
Speaking of partnerships, there's a pretty big one with the Missouri State High School Activities Association that helped Lincoln upgrade some of its equipment. Lincoln and MSHSAA bought several items from Blazer Athletic Equipment to be used in the MIAA Championships and then for both weekends of the MSHSAA Championships at the end of the month. The items would then be offered for sale to anyone wanting to purchase them, with Lincoln speaking up for several of them.
"Harvey Richards, who runs the track and field championships for MSHSAA, has schools ready to purchase the stuff," Abney said. "... Blazer is hoping that nothing will be going back to them, they're hoping to sell it, and the way it's looking, I think pretty much everything has been sold ahead of time.
"We did take advantage because now we have a pole-vault pit, the high-jump pit, we're going to have the blocks, we're going to have the hurdles. We're going to be pretty much set where we probably could start to run our own track meet.
"It's a good deal for anyone wanting to buy things. It's brand-new, then used three times and you can purchase it at a lower cost and it's still pretty much brand-new. So everybody wins. Sure, it has been used, but it's still very, very good."
The spirit of cooperation also extended to Lincoln's neighbor, Jefferson City High School, which will allow its discus area to be used for the men's and women's main events while Lincoln's will be used for the decathlon and heptathlon.
"We couldn't do everything (in the time allotted), so Jeff City was gracious enough to allow us to use their discus cage," Lincoln athletic director Betty Kemna said. "With the close proximity of it, just being right across the street, we're going to keep the bridge open so people can just walk over."
That will help keep the meet on schedule, which was one of the big changes from the high-school championships Lincoln hosts every spring.
"With the high-school meet, we don't have javelin, we don't have a hammer throw, we don't have a steeplechase, so the coordination of events has to be a little bit tighter on time," Kemna said.
"We cannot have a hammer throw going on the same time we have a javelin coming down the middle of the field," she added with a laugh.
Licklider said the organizers had some help when it came to those type of issues.
"We've been pretty fortunate," he said. "I spent an afternoon with (University of Missouri associate head coach) Dan Lefever, who has hosted Big 12 and SEC meets. It was, "What are some things we should do and what are some things we shouldn't do?'
"We've run our paperwork by a lot of folks and said, "If I've forgotten stuff, let me know. If there are things we need to be doing that aren't on here or something that's on here we shouldn't be doing, let me know.' The reception from everybody has been pretty good that we've been pretty thorough. We think we've got our bases covered."
That attention to detail extends to other areas as well.
"It's just some rule changes that are different," said Licklider, who hosted numerous high school meets during his time as head coach of the Jefferson City Jays and Lady Jays. "I think it's mainly the expectations. If the jump board sticks up a quarter of an inch on one corner in high school, we don't say too much about it. I think that's not acceptable in college. The level of preparedness is higher."
The event gets underway Friday at 2 p.m. with the first five events in the heptathlon and the first four in the pentathlon. Action starts Saturday at 10 a.m., with the last event to start at 7:40 p.m. On Sunday, action begins at 10 a.m., with the last event starting at 4:20 p.m.