THE DAKOTA COUGARS TRACK and field invitational
May 10, 2025
| 21st_annual_dakota_cougars_track_invite_meet_info_2025.pdf |
Meet History..................................................................................................
2005 DAKOTA INVITE
After attending back to back meets in 2004, Men at Livonia Stevenson on Friday night and Women at Farmington Mercy on Saturday afternoon, the Dakota staff had an idea. Tom Zarzycki and Mike Timpa decided to come up with a meet that would include both the Men and Women's team to avoid having to go separate places in the same weekend.
With Zarzycki's experience and Timpa's energy, the two decided to incorporate ideas from past invitationals they had attended. Using the format of the regional meet and the idea of including JV and Freshman events similar to the old DLS invitational, THE DAKOTA INVITE was born in 2005.
The 1st version of the meet was limited to 8 teams, as the staff tested the waters to see if the event would be well received. The teams from Chippewa Valley, Centerline (Men), DeLaSalle (Men), Grosse Pointe South, L'Anse Creuse, Lutheran North, Troy (Women), Utica and Warren Mott. It was a great success and several of these teams have attended each year since.
The running races were hand timed in 2005 and Semifinals were contested to determine the finals for the sprint and hurdle races. No official team scores were kept since the meet was designed to give athletes a chance to improve seed times for the regionals.
With Zarzycki's experience and Timpa's energy, the two decided to incorporate ideas from past invitationals they had attended. Using the format of the regional meet and the idea of including JV and Freshman events similar to the old DLS invitational, THE DAKOTA INVITE was born in 2005.
The 1st version of the meet was limited to 8 teams, as the staff tested the waters to see if the event would be well received. The teams from Chippewa Valley, Centerline (Men), DeLaSalle (Men), Grosse Pointe South, L'Anse Creuse, Lutheran North, Troy (Women), Utica and Warren Mott. It was a great success and several of these teams have attended each year since.
The running races were hand timed in 2005 and Semifinals were contested to determine the finals for the sprint and hurdle races. No official team scores were kept since the meet was designed to give athletes a chance to improve seed times for the regionals.
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2006 dakota invite
The 2nd annual DAKOTA INVITE was expanded to 16 teams as the staff felt that this would better prepare our athletes for the regional format coming the next weekend. As a result of the expanded field, Prelims and Semifinals would be run to determine the finalist. Again team scores were not official, but the mathematicians on the coaching staff at Dakota calculated them anyway. These meets were prior to athletic.net becoming a database of results. This was also the year that the 2" Custom Medals were given out as awards, prior to this generic medals were given out! The meet was held on May 13, 2006.
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2007 Dakota invite
The 3rd annual DAKOTA INVITE was special because this was the 1st time that we used a new FAT timing system. A device was used to capture the flash from the starting gun with a scope like device. It took some precision and patience, but it was like a game at the same time. We used VCR's to review the video at the Finish Line. But at least times were now accurate across the board. With more teams more medals were awarded and the size of each medal was reduced to a 1.75" custom medal. The meet was held on May 12, 2007.
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2008 dakota invite
For the 4th annual DAKOTA INVITE the format remained the same as the previous year. We worked out some of the bugs and continued to improve the meet. We hand timed the races this year, since the FAT system we used the year before was not ours. The Meet was held on May 10, 2008.
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2009 dakota invite
For the 5th annual DAKOTA INVITE the shirts started to get a little more exciting. We still hand timed the event, but soon we will get back to FAT timing. The meet was held on May 9, 2009.
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2010 Dakota invite
The 6th annual DAKOTA INVITE held on May 15, 2010
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2011 dakota invite
The 7th annual DAKOTA INVITE held on May 14, 2011
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2012 Dakota invite
The 8th annual DAKOTA INVITE was held on May 12, 2012
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2013 dakota invite
The 9th annual DAKOTA INVITE was held on May 11, 2013
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2014 dakota invite
The 10th annual DAKOTA INVITE was held on May 10, 2014
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| dhs_invite_program_2014.pdf |
2015 dakota invite
The 11th annual DAKOTA INVITE was held on May 9, 2015
2016 Dakota invite
The 12th annual DAKOTA INVITE was held on May 14, 2016
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2017 Dakota invite
The 13th annual DAKOTA INVITE was held on May 13, 2017
2018 Dakota Invite
The 14th annual DAKOTA INVITE was held on May 12, 2018
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2019 dakota invite
The 15th annual DAKOTA INVITE was held on May 11, 2019
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2020 dakota invite
The 16th annual DAKOTA INVITE was to be held on May 9, 2020. But as we all remember COVID-19 canceled our entire outdoor season.
2021 dakota invite
The 17th annual DAKOTA INVITE was held on May 15, 2021. This edition of the Dakota invite was limited to 8 teams and a 1000 spectator limit. But who was counting?
2022 dakota invite
The 18th annual DAKOTA INVITE was held on May 14, 2022.
2023 dakota invite
The 19th annual DAKOTA INVITE was held on May 13, 2023.
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| dhs_invite_program_2023.pdf |
2024 dakota invite
The 20th annual DAKOTA INVITE was held on May 11, 2024. In 2024, the Dakota invite becomes INTERNATIONAL with a team from Canada attending our meet.
| dhs_invite_program_2024.pdf |
2025 Dakota invite
The 21st annual DAKOTA INVITE was held on May 10, 2025. This was the first year the meet was approved to be an EQ (early qualifier) meet. Following specific guidelines from the MHSAA athletes could qualify to the state finals if they hit certain marks. Because of this we had Eastside Racing company time the meet.
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| dhs_invite_program_2025.pdf |
2026 dakota invite
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The 22nd annual DAKOTA INVITE was held on May 9, 2026. This was the 2nd year the meet was approved to be an EQ meet. We also changed the format to better serve the Varsity athletes in the afternoon. Limiting the freshman and JV entries to the top 48 in the 200 and 1600 and Top 36 in the 800. We were on pace to have the afternoon session start much earlier than in previous years, but a Thunderstorm, delayed us for 80 minutes.
Also, Coach Ciaravino and Coach Timpa carefully measured and marked hurdles spacing on the backstretch in case of headwinds on the homestretch. The wind was strong out of the south, so for the 1st time in school history we ran the High Hurdles and 100m dash on the backstretch! |
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| dhs_invite_program_2026.pdf |
