TheCIF California State Meet is the annual championshiptrack and field meet for theCalifornia Interscholastic Federation. The meet was started in 1915 for boys and 1974 for girls.^[1] Every athlete in every high school inCalifornia has a direct qualification path that can reach the state meet (except for five schools that compete in Nevada). In recent years a minimum of 27 athletes in each event reach this final meet of the official track and field season. Beyond those 27 who can qualify by placing in their individual section finals, "at-large" standards have been established to allow additional competitors to make the field.^[2]

The meet and the organization has undergone some changes in format over the years. The city ofSan Francisco chose not to affiliate with the CIF until 1945,Oakland, dropped out of the CIF between 1919 and 1940. No meet was held duringWorld War II 1942-1945. Until 1962, it was a single day meet. Since 1963 it has been a two-day meet, with a qualifying round held on the first day, a Friday, before the finals on Saturday, with the exceptions of 1983, 1984 and 1993 when different qualifying formats were tried. While the meet has had years of venue stability, it has also been moved around the various top stadiums throughout the state. Since 2009, the current venue of choice is the centrally locatedBuchanan High School inClovis, California where it has remained. Previously the venue had rotated between a southern venue at Falcon Stadium,Cerritos College inNorwalk, California (1981, 1986, 1988-1996, 1998-2000, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2008) and the northern venue atHughes Stadium,Sacramento City College inSacramento, California (1979, 1982, 1985, 1985, 1987, 1997, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2007).^[3] In 1984, the CIF California State Meet was held at theLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum as the test run for logistics before the1984 Summer Olympics at the same venue. Regardless of the location it has annually been the best, or among the best attended track and field meets in California, frequently with recorded attendance as high as 16,000.^[1][4]

The meet was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 in fear of theCOVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, Rich Gonzalez of the PrepCalTrack website led an effort to create a substitute California State Championship without the sanction of CIF.^[5]

Alumni from the CIF California State Meet have won Olympic gold medals in:

Also winning gold medals as part of the4 × 100 metres relay and4 × 400 metres relay teams:

Not included in this list are California athletes

• Fred Kelly won the 110 metres hurdles at the 1912 Olympics, but his high school competition predated the meet.
• Mal Whitfield, who could not compete because the meet was cancelled duringWorld War II (2 Gold medals at800 metres, 1948, 1952)
• Cliff Bourland, who could not compete because the meet was cancelled duringWorld War II (4 × 400 meters relay 1948)
• Mel Patton, who could not compete because the meet was cancelled during World War II (2 Gold medals 1948, 200 m and 4 × 100 relay)
• Sim Iness because theDiscus throw was not held while he was in high school, it restarted the year after he graduated (Discus Throw, 1952)
• Evelyn Ashford, who was in high school just before girls were allowed to compete (100 metres 1984, 4 × 100 relay 1984, 1988, 1992)
• Marion Jones, who won 3 gold medals in the 100 metres, 200 metres and 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2000 Olympics, but she was subsequently disqualified
• Calvin Harrison andAlvin Harrison who won gold medals in the 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2000 Olympics, but the team was later disqualified
• Carmelita Jeter fromBishop Montgomery High School also won a gold medal in the 2012 4 × 100 relay, but shows no results at the state meet

• Official Website
• CIF State Champions & Championship Records
• Runners Space page
• ESPN Rise

• Track and field competitions in California
• Annual track and field meetings
• High school track and field competitions in the United States
• College track and field competitions in the United States
• Recurring sporting events established in 1915
• High school sports in California
• 1915 establishments in California

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from March 2019
• Use American English from March 2019
• All Wikipedia articles written in American English