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did you guys here about this? Their scores from prelims were disqualified because they didnt go to school that day? Do you think it was fair?

No class, no track, no exceptions.
That's apparently the ruling from the Antelope Valley Unified High School District about high school athletes who won't be allowed to compete in this weekend's CIF-Southern Section track and field preliminaries, and it's got parents, coaches and athletes angry.

Because of a districtwide rule that requires students to attend school on the day of any athletic event they expect to participate in, athletes who qualified for the section prelims in Thursday's portion of the Golden League finals, but did not go to school, had their marks disqualified.

Many students throughout the Valley did not attend school Thursday because of persistent rumors there would be racial violence coinciding with the Mexican holiday of Cinco de Mayo.

"There were so many threats going around," said Mary Crenshaw, whose son Andre had qualified in four events for Antelope Valley High School, but will only be allowed to compete in the long jump, because qualifying for that event was on Tuesday. "I told him, 'Your life, or a meet.' "

AV High was hit the hardest because it had the most athletes qualified to go to the section meet.

"You've got to understand, something like 60% of our students were out of the school," said Rob Hucke, the Antelopes' head track coach. "More than half the kids were not in school. Our school took (the threats) seriously."

Hucke said that before losing several qualified athletes, "I thought we had a chance to give (perennial track power) Long Beach Poly a run in the section meet."

Antelope Valley wasn't the only school hit by the ruling.

"I have three girls (who won't be able to compete)," Palmdale High School coach Steve Wilson said, "which wipes out both of my relay teams."

Wilson said he'd learned that Highand and Lancaster high schools also lost athletes who had qualified for the meet, one of the first stages in the progression from league to section to the state meet in June.

"I understand the rule," Wilson said. "But at the same time, there were quite a few security people and administrators who didn't discourage the kids from staying home. That kind of bothers me."

Mary Crenshaw said her son believed he would be able to compete "because the district understood what was going on."

Said Hucke, "The kids felt threatened, and I don't blame them. Now we've got a big mess."

One parent went a bit further. Charles Price, whose daughter Loriel Price is a member of the Palmdale track team and had qualified as a member of one of the relay teams, said because the threat was of a serious nature, there should be leniency.

"You've got a Columbine situation," Price said. "A threat of that magnitude, and you're asking us to send our kids?"

Administrators could not be reached for comment. Messages left for district Superintendent David Vierra and Richie Romero, AV High School vice principal for athletics, were not returned.

The Antelopes were hit with a second dose of bad news over the weekend when it was learned the school had an ineligible athlete on the team and the Golden League ruled the school had to forfeit all six of its league meets.

The athlete was discovered to be a fifth-year senior. Students are only eligible for athletics their first four years of school.

"I'm livid," said Chris Broskoff, an AV High assistant coach. "I'd like to know why this didn't come up (until after the league meet)."

Broskoff said the athlete in question did not factor heavily into the team's success in meets.

"I could see if it was (José) Melena," Broskoff said, referring AV's star distance runner who has accepted a track and field scholarship to the University of California, Riverside. "But (ineligible athletes') points wouldn't even have mattered. But the league voted on it, and we get punished because 'we probably knew better.' Not realizing that they're punishing the kids."

AV still has some of its athletes qualified for the section prelims because some of the qualifying meet's events took place Tuesday. The ones still able to compete are practicing. The others are moving on.

"Most of the kids are doing pretty good," Hucke said. "The kids are pretty resilient. One or two of the kids got a little upset. In my mind, we won the league. We went 7-0. In someone else's mind we didn't, but in my mind, we did."

Usuaully i would agree with this givng the fact we are students first and athletes seconds, however, this is an unjust situation. Then again, zero-tolerance policy always equals zero brains...period.

In San Diego section, we have to go to at least 4 periods on the day of a meet otherwise we cant compete. Thats for championships and duals.

The rule makes sense, to make the kids go to class and everything but in a situation like this where they're actually scared to go to class... thats totally unfair in my opinion

I'm more concerned about what they mean by "racial violence coinciding with the Mexican holiday of Cinco de Mayo," and why people just don't get along in that part of the state.

a rule is a rule. If you don't attend school, skip a class (and get caught), or go home sick, you aren't eligible for extra-curricular activities that day. At least that's how it is at the school I coach at. If they didn't go to school that day, they can't participate in track, no matter what the reason was behind their absence. The school was in the right, in my opinion.

Though I usually don't like to use this phrase, I think 'extenuating circumstances' would be appropriately used in this situation.

True, a rule is a rule, but sometimes we need to look at other things.

at my school, no matter what, if you aren't in school
for at least 3 blocks (we have block scheduling, 5 blocks
per day) you can't participate in any sports that day.
that goes for anything...or so they say because we all
know if our starting V QB missed the day, he sure as hell
wouldn't be sitting on the bench that Friday night

I find in high school they tend(always) to bend the rules for star athletes. My high school would let lots of things slide. I was the only one to make All-Metro for winter, so pretty much i got free passes, i could leave school and come back (which is an automatic suspenstion on our school) or anything else and no1 would say anything, kinda unfair, but mer,im glad i didn't get kicked out.

I would agree with you on the whole the kids thought that they were in danger cause of certain threats going around, but every senior around knows that this yr. senior ditch day was on cinco de mayo and if threats was the best excuse they had for their parents not to get mad, then that was their own faults. You cant make up excuses for something when most likely the only reason that they did not go to school was because of the fact that it was senior ditch day. You should know by now that you should be at school the day of a track meet! I totally feel bad, and i would definetly be pist...but you have to deal with it because it was the students decision to not go to school.

We are suppose to go to all 4 classes or we cant compete at all. Unless i think there is an excused absence for like a doctor or dentist type of thing. I go to college through my high school, so the high school cant do anything if i miss a/all class. They dont even know if i do or not.

ILUVPOLEVAULT wrote:I would agree with you on the whole the kids thought that they were in danger cause of certain threats going around, but every senior around knows that this yr. senior ditch day was on cinco de mayo and if threats was the best excuse they had for their parents not to get mad, then that was their own faults.

I don't think the newspapers would have mentioned "persistent rumors of racial violence" if the threats were just excuses made by the students. It sounds like the threats were going around for awhile beforehand. I quote the article

"There were so many threats going around," said Mary Crenshaw, whose son Andre had qualified in four events for Antelope Valley High School, but will only be allowed to compete in the long jump, because qualifying for that event was on Tuesday. "I told him, 'Your life, or a meet.' "

Doesn't sound like excuses to me. I agree that "extenuating cicumstances" should apply in this case.