The Golden South Classic will be making its return as a post-season opportunity for high school athletes from Florida and afar this May but in a much different format. It will not be just a one-day track meet, but instead, a three meet series held over consecutive weekends at different locations in the month of May.
This event has been a gold standard for the state and the Southeast Region in general for decades as a high-caliber must-attend event. The focus under this new management will be on the nuts and bolts rather than the bells and whistles. Let's run a well-organized and efficient event with the essentials that are optimal for athlete performance.
The new format should appeal to athletes in giving them a choice of any date that might work best for them as well as geographically closer to them. Or for some highly motivated athletes and coaches, multiple meet opportunities for a mini-season of multiple meets beyond the FHSAA state series and doing all 3 meets in the series.
Venue locations are still being confirmed and finalized in the coming week, but for the sake of getting the word out on the meet so athletes and coaches can put the events on their calendars, below are the planned three dates and geographic areas where the meet will be held. We will announce the exact venue locations very soon.
The first leg of the Golden South Series will be held in a Southwest Florida (Ft. Myers) location on Saturday, May 15th. Meet registration can be found here.
The second leg of the Golden South Series will be held in a Central Florida (Bradenton) location on Friday, May 21st. Meet registration can be found here.
The third leg of the Golden South Series will be held in a North Florida or Central Florida (TBD) location on Saturday, May 29th. Meet registration can be found here.
Meet questions can be directed to Brandon Miles at brandon.miles@flosports.tv.