MODESTO -- The California Invitational Relays, the "Biggest Little Track Meet In The World" and the source of 31 world records since 1942, has reached the finish line in Modesto.
The meet will be transplanted to Sacramento State's Hornets Stadium next May 9 and will remain under the sponsorship of SaveMart Supermarkets, which has bankrolled the Relays since 1999.
Gregg Miller, who will continue as meet director, cited sagging attendance for the Relays' departure. The event drew only 2,710 last May, the smallest turnout in more than a decade.
The Sacramento Sports Commission, which has marketed two U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials and four NCAA Championships at Hornet Stadium this decade, will assume similar duties for the Relays.
"It is felt that the move into a larger population base along with the benefits of recent intensive sports marketing of track and field by the Sacramento Sports Commission, which began in 2000, will significantly improve attendance and sponsorship enabling the event to improve and evolve," read an official statement distributed Thursday by Relays officials. "We wish to acknowledge all of the local supporters and sponsors who have helped us keep the meet solvent over the nearly seven-decade span."
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