Milligan College, Tenn. (Jan. 18, 2011) --- Milligan College has teamed up with Science Hill High School to host the inaugural Johnson City Invitational track and field event on April 15-16. The event will be hosted at Science Hill’s Kermit Tipton Stadium.
“We are pleased to be teaming up with Science Hill to bring such an excellent event to our area,” Milligan Vice President of Student Development Mark Fox said. “The event will feature some of the top local athletes, and we hope we can continue to grow it into one of the premier track events in the area.”
The event will feature many of the area’s top high school and collegiate teams. Both groups will compete in a full slate of traditional outdoor events.
In addition, Kermit Tipton Stadium will also host the Appalachian Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships this season. The state of the art facility is in its first year of use.
“These types of events are exactly what we envisioned when we were pushing for the facility,” Science Hill Athletic Director Keith Turner said. “We feel that with such a wonderful facility and the city's reputation for hosting athletic events that this particular event will continue to grow in the future and help attract other track events for our city.”
Johnson City has a storied history in hosting track and field events. The MSHA/Athletic Center is home to the Niswonger Invitational, which has featured many Olympians and world class athletes over the course of its 33 year history. Milligan also hosted the NAIA Indoor Track and Field Nationals for 10 consecutive years inside the venue.
In addition to the success of hosting track and field events, Johnson City is also home to several other popular running events. The city, which was named the number one running city in America during the 1980s, and the surrounding region is host to the world-renowned Crazy 8’s road race, Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot and has been host to the AAC Cross Country Conference Championships. The Tri-Cities area is also home to two nationally known collegiate programs in East Tennessee State University and Milligan College.
Steven Wilson with Genworth Financial has joined the event as a major sponsor. Other sponsors for the event include FootRX, Johnson City Power Board, Courtyard by Marriott and Doubletree.
For more information on Milligan athletics, visit www.milliganbuffs.com.
For more information on Science Hill High School, visit www.jcschools.org/shhs.