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CYO National Invitational History | |
See also: CYO Prep Invitational
The National Invitational, sometimes called the CYO Meet, was an indoor track meet started in 1968 and hosted through the late 1970's. The meet boasted world record holders and Olympians every year in addition to top collegiate talent and a few elite high school events.
According to a Washington Post article, the meet was started by Robert F. (Bob) Comstock in 1968. Comstock was a Catholic University alumnus and former track coach who reached out to the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) to sponsor a "major-league" track meet. The CYO had received $35,000 from a benefit game played by the Washington Redskins and put some of that money toward's Comstock's dream track meet.
The meet was held in the DC Armory for two years before it moved to Cole Field House at the University of Maryland. Cole Field House had a capacity of 12,000 at the time - double the DC Armory capacity. A new track and jumping pits were installed for the 1970 event at Cole Field House. Comstock boasted the new 11-lap-to-the-mile track was the fastest indoor oval in the country. The fresh speedy boards produced meet records in practically every event. On the oval, Villanova ran 3:15 in the mile relay. On the straightaways, two world records were tied when Olympian John Carlos clocked 5.9 in the 60 yard dash and Olympian Willie Davenport clocked 6.8 in the 60 yard hurdles.
A full slate of high school events formed the CYO Prep Invitational which was directed by Joe Deady, the track coach from St. Johns High School in the early years of the meet. High school events were contested before or after the elite amateur events at the National Invitational except for the invitational CYO and high school mile relays which were showcased during the elite events. By 1975, the CYO Prep Invitational had several days of qualifying trials before the finals were contested on the same day of the National Invitational. |
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