The Butler County Classic may have been created as an after-effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It doesn’t matter.

It should stick around.

The Knoch Relays — which generally serves as the early-season “major” track and field meet in the county — were not held this year because of the yet uncertain status of the pandemic.

Some track coaches got together looking to create a meet that wasn’t quite as sizable as the Knoch event, but could be held on a Saturday to give kids an early opportunity to gage where they stand in their respective events.

And the Butler County Classic was born.

The event, held last weekend at Butler’s Art Bernardi Stadium, marked the first time a major meet was held strictly for the purpose of bringing all of the Butler County high school teams together.

Eight boys and girls teams showed up — Butler, Seneca Valley, Knoch, Freeport, North Catholic, Karns City, Moniteau and Slippery Rock — with Mars being the lone county team not to participate.

I’ll be surprised if the Planets don’t participate next year.

And there needs to be a next year for this event.

Even if the Knoch Relays return — and hopefully, they will — a Saturday needs to be set aside for the Butler County Classic.

The athletes loved it.

Big schools. Small schools. District 7, 9 and 10 schools. Slippery Rock athletes said they loved the opportunity to run against WPIAL teams because they rarely do.

Butler and Seneca Valley wisely didn’t overload events. Given the size of their rosters, they may have dominated this meet and ruined its affect.

But kids from those big schools did finish behind some kids from smaller schools, in some events.

There is plenty of talent to go around in this county.

Imagine if the Butler County Classic became an annual event, rotated around the county to schools willing to host it. Once meet records were developed, they would become invaluable.

What track and field athlete wouldn’t want to hold a county meet record?

There’s something special about competing against neighboring schools. A lot of these kids know each other ahead of time.

Butler’s Guinness Brown wanted to run the 200 meters Saturday because he knew North Catholic’s Trevor Paschall would be running it — and he knew how good Paschall was.

The Golden Tornado’s CJ Singleton and Knoch’s Mike Formica — WPIAL cross country champions — finally had a chance to compete against each other in the 1,600 meters. They took advantage of that opportunity.

And so it goes.

County tournaments work.

This one certainly did.

Maybe other sports — basketball, soccer, baseball, softball, etc. — should make a note of that.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle