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New Balance announced today that they will be sponsoring the New Balance Indoor Championships for March 11-13, 2011. This will combine both the former Nike Indoor Champs at Reggie Lewis and the MAC, held at the New Balance Armory, focusing two good invitationals now into one exceptional National Championships. This gives NB both an NB Indoor Champs and an NB Outdoor Champs.

Under the watchful eye of Josh Rowe, the New Balance running marketing manager, New Balance has, in the past 18 months, moved into the high school sport of athletics, sponsoring two of the three championships that the National Scholastic Sports Foundation has championed for nearly two decades.

Nike has focused on team championships, in the Nike Cross Nationals and the Nike Track Nationals. NB is focusing on individual participation at the NB Indoor and NB Outdoor championships, but has now added a team championship in both events, recognizing the top three teams in both events. The only other brand to be involved in a national high school championship is Saucony, who sponsors the national Foot Locker Cross Country Championships and is in their third year of that relationship.

Kudos to New Balance for supporting two high school championships and giving young athletes two strong events at which the young athlete can get a shot at national competitions with their peers.

CENTER AT THE ARMORY FOR THE NEW BALANCE INDOOR
NATIONALS

BOSTON,
MA, December 8, 2010
– Global athletic leader New Balance is pleased to announce an official multi-year partnership
with the National Scholastic Sports Foundation (NSSF) and the New Balance Track
& Field Center at the Armory in New York City in the New Balance Indoor
Nationals. The event will bring together the best indoor track and field high
school athletes from across the country for a weekend of intense competition.

“New
Balance is thrilled to partner with the NSSF and the Armory for the New Balance
Indoor Nationals,” said Josh Rowe, marketing manager, running at New Balance. “Serving
as an official sponsor of this event is an effective way for us to support the
high school track and field running community. It is also very exciting for us
to have both the indoor and outdoor high school track and field national meets
under one New Balance umbrella.”

For the
past decade there have been two indoor national championship meets, with the
National Scholastic Sports Foundation operating one of the meets, the Indoor
Nationals (previously called the Indoor Classic) since 1999, most recently
hosting it at the Reggie Lewis Sports Complex in Boston, MA. The new three way
partnership of New Balance, the NSSF, and the New Balance Track & Field
Center at the Armory combines the two distinct events into one high school
track & field championship meet at the world’s greatest indoor track and
field facility.

“We are excited
to partner with both New Balance and the New Balance Track & Field Center
at the Armory for this meet,” said meet director Jim Spier. “We recognize the
passion and commitment both entities bring to high school running and are eager
to work together. Now having one indoor high school championship means that the
most talented student-athletes in the country will be competing head-to-head in
one unified meet, which will bring this event to new unprecedented levels.”

“We are delighted that New Balance and the National
Scholastic Sports Foundation have joined to bring a true unified National High
School Championship here to the Armory,” said Armory President Norb Sander. “It
will be a great meet with a wonderful setting for our student-athletes from across
the country.”

Similar
to the New Balance Outdoor Nationals, the New Balance Indoor Nationals event
will feature a team scoring element in addition to the individual championships.
Specifically, scoring will award points to the top 8 places (10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1)
in each event. New Balance will award trophies to the top three boys and girls teams, for a
total of six trophies. New Balance will also award the top program for each
gender with uniforms for the upcoming 2010-2011 season.

In 2011, the
New Balance Indoor Nationals will be held on March 11-13^th.

Author

Larry Eder
Larry Eder has had a 52-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Also does some updates for BBC Sports at key events, which he truly enjoys. Theme song: Greg Allman, " I'm no Angel."
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