* An image of the the Armory Track and Field Center
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New Balance Nationals Indoor, a season-ending national indoor high school championship event annually held at the Armory Tack and Field Center in New York City, has been canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a public relations representative of New Balance announced on Tuesday.
The indoor meet, the first to be operated exclusively by New Balance, was set to be held at the Armory from March 12-14. This marks the second straight year the event has been canceled due to concerns over the coronavirus.
On Sunday, MileSplit followed a Journal News report that said that the Armory Track suspended community and high school track and field operations at the venue following the Hispance Games this past weekend. The facility had hosted 20 limited capacity events since December at the venue, though made the decision to scale back competitions at the track.
That ultimately set in motion a move from New Balance, which was hoping to host its first national indoor championship since moving on from its partnership with the National Scholastic Athletic Foundation in May. The organizations had held the annual indoor championship in recent years at the Armory.
A release by a PR representative from New Balance wrote:
The health and safety of the running community is our priority and based on the continued presence of COVID-19 and current CDC guidelines, we are not able to safely move forward with the event. New Balance looks forward to hosting competitors at the New Balance Nationals Outdoor Championship later in the year and returning to The Armory for the 2022 NBNI meet. More information about the New Balance Nationals Outdoor Championship can be found at www.nbnationalsout.com.
