In Texas, track and field is no doubt heavy on the sprint events. That is partly, due to how heavily saturated the state is with speed, speed, and more speed.
Out of the 17 typically competed events, there are eight speed related events on the track. That means, there are a total of nine events combined throughout the rest of the sport. There are two horizontal jumps, one vertical jump, one vault, two throwing events, and three distance events (if you consider the 800m distance).
Therefore, the participation rate in track and field throughout the season heavily favors sprinters compared to the other events.
Thanks to some of the great minds of coaches, clubs, and other organizations throughout the state, there are some meets that have addressed some the inadequate opportunities.
Event specific meets have been popping up all over the state throughout recent years. Track and field meets specific to events like the pole vault, distance, throws, and even multi-events are giving opportunities to athletes, coaches, and fans to focus on their events and have the opportunities to perform with more equality and opportunities.
This weekend, the Throws Factory Throwdown will showcase the shot put, discus, and javelin events. It's specific focus of throwing events will enable athletes to get attention and ability to compete in an early season meet. It also give the opportunity to compete in the javelin, which is a USATF and Olympic event that isn't competed in the state of Texas throughout high school meets.
Perhaps the event that started it all is the pole vault. The Belton Pole Vault Explosion has been giving pole vaulters the platform to compete for a decade. The collaboration between Lucas Lovejoy High School and the Texas Express PV Club has become to produce two indoor pole vault meets a year including the Lovejoy Texas Express Holiday Invitational Indoor Pole Vault and this past weekend's Lovejoy Texas Express PV meet.
