The Upcoming 2010 New Balance Nationals

Fast comes to Greensboro for the sixth straight year on June 17, 2010, when the nation's top high school track athletes will assemble on the campus of North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University for the New Balance Nationals — formerly the Outdoor Nationals. Since 1991, the Outdoor Nationals have been the coming out party for new generations of fast — several of them marked by rivalries that persist today. New Balance will be on hand to meet and support the athletes and their families, hear from them about the journeys that got them there, and cheer on the amazing feats that will be on display.

With the individual storylines of high school athletes from across the country crisscrossing in one place, it's no wonder that year after year, history is made here. Returning Nationals veterans and alums would remember the 2004 Girls Varsity Mile, when current Oregon star Nicole Blood edged out a crowd that included current Team New Balance stars Jenny Barringer, Frances Koons and Nicole Bush. They'll also remember that Jenny, that same year, earned her second consecutive top-10 finish in the 2-mile, finishing in a blistering 10:40.80.

In the prior year, Heidi Magill (now Heidi Dahl and a member of Team New Balance) was edged out by three quarters of a second in the 800m by Katya Kostetskaya, who blazed to a 2:05.95 time. Regulars may not remember the winner of the Girls Freshman Mile that year, but they know her name: current Team New Balance star Sarah Bowman followed up that victory with a 2005 win over Brie Felnagle in what is widely considered one of the top high school Girl's Mile races of all-time. Her winning time? 4:36.95 — nearly 5.5 seconds faster than Blood's time just a year earlier. Fast surprises you even when you see it coming.

And so again this year, as every year, America's best high school runners will converge in Greensboro. For three days in June, we'll be dazzled and delighted by the future heroes of London and Rio de Janeiro — nearly half of the 2004 US Olympic Track and Field Team had raced at the Outdoor Nationals as teenagers— and reminded of what fast looks like.

Visit the official site to learn more about the 2010 New Balance Nationals and schedule of events, and check back here at NewBalance.com for a post-event recap.