JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Bob Hayes Invitational track and field meet heads back to the University of North Florida on Saturday morning and is ready to roll out the welcome mat to some of the top athletes in the state.
This is the third year the event has been held at UNF after spending more than 50 years at its storied location at Raines. Race director Greg Coleman said the event, which features 38 events and more than 100 teams, is a labor of love and legacy that has withstood the test of time.
Coleman expects the usual suspects — Miami Northwestern, St. Thomas Aquinas and American Heritage — to push local schools like Raines for the top of the podium.
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“The legacy and the legend of Bob Hayes is so amazing,” Coleman said. “We want to keep that legacy alive and let kids know what’s possible. Even though my career was NFL, but it was track and field that opened my eyes to what’s possible.”
Coleman spent 12 years in the NFL as a punter and has remained close to the sport in the years after. He spent years working in the sports media with the Vikings and retired from that in 2022. He was elevated to the executive director of the Bob Hayes track meet after the death of James “Coach” Day in February 2022. But he was connected to the event for decades and always knew he’d be involved with the meet in some capacity.
“Bob told me one thing, Coleman, I don’t care what you do, you keep this about the kids,” he said.
Keeping it about the kids is what helped make the decision to move the event from its longstanding home at Raines over to larger venue at UNF’s Hodges Stadium. The infrastructure and setup at UNF is set up to accommodate elite NCAA track and field events and more conducive to something like the Bob Hayes.
The Bob Hayes event was held at Matthew Gilbert, Northwestern and Douglas Anderson during its early years before moving to Raines in 1968.
“My competition days are long gone but with this one, you still get some [butterflies],” Coleman said.
The event is the final event in what is a week’s worth of companion festivities.
Former area stars Albert Chester and Garrett Scantling, as well as former Bob Hayes meet winners Justin Gatlin and Twanisha Terry were honored Thursday night at the event’s annual hall of fame gala added another star-filled class.
