The Thomas Jefferson Community Center in Arlington is always a busy sports venue.
This winter, though, the facility was even much busier with multiple and various girls and boys indoor high-school track and field meets held at T.J. Some meets included more teams than others.
One of the meets included the Arlington County girls and boys championships.
In all, there were some nine separate high-school meets held at the center, some during the week and some on the weekends.
Other than George Mason University, the T.J. center remains so busy and heavily requested for high-school meets because there are no other public facilities in Northern Virginia large enough or set up to hold such competition. It has been requested and lobbied for decades that Fairfax County build such a public indoor track and field venue that high-school teams can use, but with no luck.
Episcopal High School in Alexandria has a big indoor track and field building, but that’s a private school.
Postseason high-school meets used to be held at George Mason, but that agreement with the local high schools soured years ago, so such meets are no longer held at the college.
So it’s T.J. that remains a busy winter venue for such meets, and that likely will continue.
– Dave Facinoli
dfacinoli@sungazette.net