Photo by Nick Henthorn From left, Wheeling Park girls head coach Andy Fletcher, Todd Dei, Sean Dei and Wheeling Park boys head coach Zach Phillips, stand in the press box overlooking the track at Wheeling Park High School. The Dick Dei Track Classic is set for it’s 47th rendition this Saturday, welcoming over 20 teams from three states to compete against one another.

WHEELING — It’s that time of the year again– a time of the year that track programs across West Virginia, Ohio, and even Pennsylvania have looked forward to for almost 50 years.

The Dick Dei Track Classic is set for its 47th go-round on Saturday on the campus of Wheeling Park High School in the facility bearing the same namesake as the renowned event.

With schools from three different states though, the meet can hardly be considered a West Virginia-exclusive affair, despite happening in the Mountain State.

“We say we are an Ohio-based meet in West Virginia,” Sean Dei, the son of the event’s namesake who organizes the event alongside his brother Todd, said. “The bulk of our schools always comes out of Ohio. Right now we’re looking at around 24 teams.”

Local teams set to compete at the Dick Dei include Park, Weir, Brooke, Union Local, Buckeye Local, Magnolia and Shadyside.

Out-of-area schools like Olentangy Liberty, Meadowdale, Firestone, Spring Mills, Parkersburg and University are set to heighten the competition, and one Pennsylvania team is set to make the trip east– Canon McMillian, the lone representative from the Keystone State, as PA track teams compete in the triple jump and javelin throw, events Ohio and W.Va. teams do not include.

“They like to go to meets where they can do those events,” Dei said.

As for the host team Patriots, the day holds a special significance.

“We’re really excited,” Wheeling Park boys track coach Zach Phillips said. “It’s definitely one of the meets you look forward to all year, the Dick Dei. It’s obviously the biggest invitational that we host and a lot of good teams come in with some really good athletes who are strong in a lot of areas. We’re looking forward to the challenge and seeing where we stand and kind of defending our home track. Wheeling Park is very excited and ready to roll.”

Phillips, a 2014 Wheeling Park graduate who starred in football, also ran in the Dick Dei Track Classic his senior year.

“It hits home for me there a little bit, brings back some good memories, and now I get to coach it,” Phillips said.

The Dick Dei Track Classic has long been an institution for track programs reaching out as far as Cleveland, and was organized by Dick Dei– one of the most prolific track coaches in the state during a 13-year tenure at Wheeling Park– for most of its history.

Dei passed away in 2007, and it was then that his sons Sean and Todd stepped up.

“When he passed away we wanted to stay involved with the meet and maintain those connections with the coaches,” Sean said. “A lot of coaches that come from out of the area– the Columbus schools, the Cleveland schools, the Dayton schools– they recognized my father with the meet. We all decided that someone from the family should be the face of the meet and interact with the coaches so that they felt confident and comfortable interacting with us, and that they’d know things would continue going on the right way.

To that effect, Sean– who resides in Florida– works to stay informed about top teams and impressive performers in the tri-state area who could merit an invite to the prestigious meet.

“Things have changed drastically from when my brother and I were in this program. My dad and [assistant] coach [Carl] Bowman used to subscribe to a lot of the papers in the state, and they would look at times, because there was no internet back then.

“One of the things I do is continually watch various websites and as the seasons get into the postseasons– districts, region meets– I start looking at the hot times, the high distances, and who has things coming back in the following year?”

The attention to the cream of the crop in the track scene has elevated the Dick Dei to a place where state champions and record-setting athletes can converge, making it a benchmark meet for all teams present.

“I think it is a good measurement of where we’re at here before we start heading into the postseason here in a couple weeks,” Phillips said. “The Dick Dei helps us see where we measure up to other schools and specifically ones in our state.”

“This is going to be great for the team,” Wheeling Park girls track head coach Andy Fletcher said. “It’s a lot of serious competition coming in, pushing our kids. We’re in mid-season right now, and if we’re pushing our kids mid-season, they’re going to see where they’re at and they’re going to see what they need to work on. I like having people coming in and trying to beat us. That just makes the kids move faster and work harder.”

Curating a field of that caliber, and maintaining the high standard the meet has set over 47 years, takes time and effort, costs that Dei and the many others involved in the organization of the event, are happy to pay.

“It’s a labor of love,” Dei said. “I know what this meet means to a lot of people, I know what this program means to a lot of people, and I know personally what athletics means, because I referee a lot of high school football in Florida. I know it means a lot, and that athletics is an extension of the classroom. If they’re here competing, it makes better young men and young women.”

One thing Dei was clear in pointing out– that labor is spread out among a number of men and women working to keep the Dick Dei a must-see meet.

“There’s a lot of people that make this go,” Dei said. “There’s been a lot of people– some of whom are no longer with us, unfortunately– who have given a lot of time and a lot of labor to get this to where we are today. Right now we’re just very fortunate to be the caretakers of it. Hopefully when the time comes, my two nieces or my son or my daughter want to jump in here when Todd and I decide that it’s time for some fresh ideas.”

The Dick Dei Track Classic, presented by Pepsi, is set to take place on Saturday, April 13, with a 9 a.m. start time.