History
In July 2000, the 13th Annual Russell E. Blunt Invitational and the 26th Annual East Coast Invitational merged to become the 2000 Russell E. Blunt East Coast Invitational. These meets were among the best age group meets held in the USA each year. The competition took place at Wallace Wade Stadium on the campus of Duke University in Durham, NC. It followed three other prestigious track & field meets held at Duke that year, the Duke Invitation, the ACC Championships and the NCAA Championships. We received a lot of local support to ensure that everyone enjoyed their visit to Duke as well as Durham. Dr. Leroy Walker, former president of the USOC was our first Annual “Honorary Meet Director”. We continued to include the Mothers, Fathers and Coaches Relays that began with the Blunt meet. Since 2000, along with Duke, the meet was held at North Carolina A&T State University, Hillside High School and its present home, Durham County Memorial Stadium. Over the years, the meet has produced many National record performances. Some of the participants went on to become NCAA national champions and Olympic qualifiers and champions.
