IHSA State Track Meet Biggest F*** Up EVER!!!

[katsmom]

I watched the pole vault competition Saturday - both Class A and AA. This thread seems to explain a couple things that I found unusual in the AA competition. There seemed to be about 9 guys still in the competition at 15+ feet -which I thought was pretty amazing. Also one vaulter was soaring so high over the bar at 14 - 15 ft that the crowd over in our Class A section was astounded.

My daughter was one of the officials on the Class A pit and she says that they measured their standards before and throughout the competition on the Class A pit.

[OH-IOvaulter]

At our regional and state meets they not only zero the standards for all to see, they measure at opening height and each consecutive height. For my dual meets I zero the standards with the other coach(es) and measure withthem at opening height and any record attempts.

Just my two cents.

[TheDeanMachine]

haha that's ridiculous. i caught a couple of your vaults, but i was over watching single a. good job nonetheless.

[bulldogvaulter]

I just wanted to know y they flipped the standerds upside down. I was in this meet and i have never seen anyhting like that. That had to screw the standerds measureing tapes on the sides up. They arent ment for them to be upside down.

[sixflagsguy5]

It kindof sucks that they were off for our competition on saturday. It would have been nice to know which height I actually cleared instead of guesing that I was around 15ish. I'm gunna borrow my coach's lazer measurer for the senior spotlight meet so that we don't get screwed over again.

-Forbes

[master]

If "we" can only convince schools to put down a zero-line, the process of positioning standards will go from 30 minutes to 30 milliseconds and probably at some places be correct for the first time ever.

Amen

- master

[indestructo]

We had an issue at the division 1 state meet back in 2004 I believe it was. We had the top ranked girl going in at 11'6". Second was at 11'0" and third was 10'6 and dropping off quickly after that. Coaches were not allowed in the competition area during the meet. The bar was measured at every height rase, but nobody could tell that he was measuring from the bottom of the box!!! 9 inches off!! We get to 11' and 5 girls clear the height, we're all amazed. We see him measuring the bar each time, so we assume its right. We can't see the box though. I agree that physically nobody had an advantage over anyone else.... but psychologically, my jumper was done. She hadn't missed a bar under 11'6" in 5 or 6 straight meets, but now that she thinks there are 5 other girls miraculously jumping major PR's, she's toast. So yes its fair physically speaking, but the mental game is massively unfair. The winning height ended up being 11'10", adjusted down to 11'1"... She should have walked off as the champion.

I spoke with every official I could get my hands on at that meet. Not that I could change anything about the results, but I could make sure all of them knew what happened, and maybe not repeat this umbelievable mistake.

[colbert]

I had a bird-eye's view of the IHSA Class A and AA pole vault competition, as my press pass allowed me to meander about.
I've seen tons of HS meets in 40 years, but rarely are my sights acclimated to the bar being at 15-ft plus. I wouldn't have known the difference.
When I saw an early Mick Viken clearance, my thought process was, hmm, this guy's as good as advertised. Little did I know the standards were off.
A good friend of mine has coached a couple state champs (boys & girls) in Class A and he has commented many times on lack of professionalism in how the vault is run downstate.

[colbert]

One thing I should say in defense of the people that run all the track and field events at the IHSA meet is that all are volunteers. If we don't have them, we don't have a meet.

[Mitch]

That is very true that they are volunteers and i would be more appreciative if they were in it for the right reasons. They are only looking to build their resumes and more importantly boost their ego. I don't see the part of it that it is in the benefit of the kids competing, this may be my personal view or maybe just an Illinois thing who knows.....

[rainbowgirl28]

That is very true that they are volunteers and i would be more appreciative if they were in it for the right reasons. They are only looking to build their resumes and more importantly boost their ego. I don't see the part of it that it is in the benefit of the kids competing, this may be my personal view or maybe just an Illinois thing who knows.....

Mitch let it go. People make mistakes. Officiating a track meet does not build anyone's resume. I don't think anyone was intentionally trying to screw up, they were probably just ill-prepared for the task at hand.

There is always adversity. One of my vaulters got bumped down a spot at State this year because the vaulter below her claimed the officials (two of the best officials in the country) messed up and incorrectly awarded her a miss. The games committee apparently took the athlete's word over the official's, and the whole weekend I couldn't get a straight answer about whether or not the appeal had been granted, and of course I never saw the original clipboard because I was stuck in the coaches box.

Never mind that it is completely impossible for that mistake to have been made (had there been a mistake, it would have been caught when the athlete was called up for a second attempt).


In the triple jump, our guy was ranked #1 or #2 coming into the meet. After jump #5 he has to go run the 4x100. After the 4x100, he tries to get back to triple jump to take his last jump, but they refuse to let him go because they want to do the awards ceremony right away. By the time he gets back to triple, they say it is too late to take his last jump. We appeal. It is denied. EXACT same situation happened to another kid last year and the appeal was granted.


In the 3A meet the winner was DQ'd in the two mile when an official mixed her and her teammate up. All appeals were denied. All of the other athletes knew this was a mistake and willingly traded their medals in so that the girl could have the first place she deserved.


Adversity is part of life. You're going through a lot of it right now, and it totally sucks, but you have to learn how to channel that energy in a positive way. Use it to help you jump higher. Saying negative things about others isn't going to help at this point.

[vaultmd]

And Mitch,

If you want to be part of the solution, become a USATF certified official and help out at some meets. It's not as hard to get certified as you would think, and the meet organizers, coaches and kids all appreciate a caring and competent official.

One of the saddest days out here in northern California was the day Horace Crow passed away. We now have an award named in his honor.