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Greetings
Track Stars and Parents,
We have had a few questions regarding how an athlete is placed into a particular
event at a meet. I would like to take this opportunity to try and give you a
complete explanation.
Please understand there are many, many factors that go into meet planning and
generally 3- 4 hours of time is spent on each individual meet to get the job
done. (Mind you, we are not complaining. We do love our job. That is why we do
it.)
Let me see if I can help you understand it better. The following factors are
considered for each meet:
1. Times and Distances (Keep in mind that we still do not have all times and
distances on all 106 athletes due to athletes missing practices when times were
taken) We also update times and distances after each meet. Sometimes we use the
meet to find out times and distances. Sometimes we use the meet to get a good
workout in for our athletes. Sometimes we set up the meet with the cream of our
crop to win the meet.
2. There are 106 athletes on the team and we do our best to try and fit everyone
in. Sometimes we are not able to do that. At an Invitational meet we are only
allowed two entries per meet in ALL events which makes it very difficult to get
everyone in the meet. In a dual or triangular meet we are allowed two or three
in each sprinting event and as many as we want in the 1600m and the 800m and
only three or four in each of the four field events.
3. Most all the time attendance from meet to meet changes. Who we are missing
from the meet due to soccer, baseball, basketball, scholastic bowl, play
practice etc., affects who goes into what events. For example, this weekend we
have only a handful of 8th grade boys going to the meet so we had to actually
scratch some events. We try to never scratch events and sometimes we will run
7th graders up to fill those events. However, from polling the team, this is not
an option that they enjoy. It is important to us that they enjoy this sport!
4. At the beginning of the season all athletes were asked to tell us what events
they might like to try this year. We have a list that we look at each meet to
see what events the athlete is capable of doing. There are thirteen total
events. Some athletes run distance and some athletes prefer sprints. The
sprinting events are more restricted for the number of entries at all meets.
Generally, the fastest two runners in the particular sprinting event garner
those open spots.
5. If you are one of the top two athletes that runs the fastest 100, 200, 400,
800 or 1600m you can expect to be in those open events and at least one relay
that also has that distance in it. We put our best athletes in first and then
if we have another open spot we put an athlete in that spot who we
need to get an official time on. We also take split times on all relays and use
those as guides to help determine fastest times, keeping in mind that relay
split times are not exact depending on where the handoff was made.
Remember, an athlete is limited to the number of races he can run. We may have
an athlete who holds the best time in all of the running events. He or she
obviously can not run in all those events which means the next best person will
take that spot.
Also, the best athlete can not run events back to back in which case the next
best athlete will run that event.
6. Each athlete is only allowed to participate in four total events; either
three running events (which include relays) and one field; or three field events
and one running event; or two field events and two running events. Because we
have so many athletes, only the very best athletes compete in two or more
events. Some athletes again, depending on event entry availability, may only
compete in one event; for example at an Invitational meet where we are strictly
limited.
Unless you are a distance runner, we typically try to get everyone in at least
two events. At a huge Invitational meet, that is not always possible.
7. When we plan a meet we plan for our relay teams first in terms of the fastest
runners. We like to try and put the best relay teams together with our best
sprinters and then add a second B-relay team whenever we can with our next
fastest runners. We are ONLY allowed B-relay teams at meets that are not
considered Invitationals.
Also, keep in mind, the Sectional rule is: you can not run in the 4x100m relay
AND the 4x200m relay. You can run in the 4x100m relay and the 4x400m relay. We
do fudge on that rule in meets that are not Sectionals.
8. The order of events is another factor. We want our athletes to have enough
rest between races in order to regroup and do their best in their next race. We
would not run an athlete in the 800m and then turn around and place them in the
4x200m which directly follows.
Considerable time, effort and thought does go into each meet planning and that
is why it is so very important that we know who will be at each meet, each time
well in advance. Once the meet is planned it is very difficult to make changes.
We were able to make some changes to this Saturday's meet and those athletes
will be notified. We don't expect to ever have this opportunity again.
Sometimes, we have to turn in meet assignments weeks early which means their may
be an athlete who performs a better time/distance at a meet after we have
already assigned those spots. We can not go back and add athletes to
Invitational meets we can only scratch athletes from events.
I hope this gives all athletes and parents a better understanding of how this
sport operates. If you still have questions please feel free to email or call me
at anytime.
Train Smart Win Easy,
Coach JR :o)
Order of Events for both boys and girls
100M hurdles (girls)
110M hurdles (boys)
100m
1600m
4x100m relay
400m
200m
800m
4x200m relay
4x400m relay
(Girls running events go first while boys field events are going and then boys
running events begin while girls field events are going)
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