Arcadia Invitational - History

History

In 1968, Arcadia High School track coach Doug Smith had an idea for an evening track meet for all the area schools. The first invitational was held more than 40 years ago, with 23 schools and six track clubs participating. Arcadia graduate Tracy Smith was the first of many future Olympic athletes to be a winner in the Arcadia Invitational. She went on to participate in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. 1970 is the meet that Doug Smith felt was a giant step in the development of the meet into more of a "Southern California" event. Santa Ana Coach Earl Engman, who was the Meet Director of the CIF-Southern Section championship affairs, entered his championship squad from Orange County, enhancing the event with the members of his top program from the greater San Gabriel Valley.

The invitational has since gone on to produce 25 U.S. records and 152 U.S. Olympians up to and including the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials.

In 2002, the meet expanded from a single-day competition to a two-day affair as the newly formed Friday portion consisted of additional relays (sprint medleys, shuttle hurdles, 4x800, etc.) not common at most meets. In 2004, another section of field events competition was also added to the Friday schedule.

In 2008, the Arcadia Multis were added on the Thursday-Friday of meet week, allowing top decathletes and heptathletes the chance to compete. It has become the premier multi-events competition for high schoolers, with both national decathlon records (high school implements and international implements) for boys achieved there. In 2010, the deepest quality field of high school heptathletes was featured.

The Arcadia Invitational is now the largest outdoor high school meet in the United States, with more than 4,000 high school athletes competing. In terms of participation numbers, it is also the largest high school sporting event in the nation that is hosted on a high school campus.