Texas track record book undergoes changes - again

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http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/state/14565130.htm

Texas track record book undergoes changes - again
JIM VERTUNO
Associated Press
AUSTIN - The University Interscholastic League has changed its track and field record book for the second time in three years, knocking out some long-standing records in the process.

League officials have replaced the remaining hand-held stopwatch times with electronic times that are generally slower, and converted old races run in yards to meters, which also affects times.

That's a big deal in Texas, where national high school records are often set at the annual state meet, which began Friday.

Officials converted some records to electronic times in 2003, but kept listing hand times for older records where they were the only standard available.

The most notable change at the time involved Greenville's Henry Neal, who set a national 100-meter record in 1990 with a hand-held time of 9.9 seconds. The converted mark of 10.14 remains a national record.

UIL officials decided this year it was time for an overhaul, even if it meant wiping out some records.

"We wanted one unified standard, the accepted standard. Why go halfway?" said UIL Athletic Coordinator Peter Contreras. "We were concerned about making the conversion and losing national records."

That didn't happen, but it did wipe out some state marks.

Joe DeLoach of Bay City had held the Class 4A 100-meter record since 1984 with a hand-held time of 10.0 seconds. Although DeLoach had been listed as faster than Neal the last three years, Neal held the national record because of his faster hand-held time. Still, DeLoach kept his name in the record book.

But the track standard of converting hand times to electronic adds .24 seconds. That means DeLoach's run is now recorded at 10.24 and slower than Austin Reagan's Brendan Christian, who ran 10.15 in 2003. Christian is now the 4A record holder, and DeLoach's name has disappeared.

The same thing happened to Fort Worth Kirkpatrick's winning quarter-mile relay team from 1968, when the distance was 440 yards.

Wade Williams, Phillip Anderson, Terrance Beasley and Charles Copeland had held the 3A record of 40.9 seconds for 37 years until this year.

Now the Giddings 400-meter relay team of Anthony Francis, Jermaine Cooper, Philip Mannie and Jason Hodge is the 3A record-holder with a time 41.02 run in 1998.

The UIL went with fully automatic timing at the state meet in 1992 but had the technology for it even earlier. But many electronic times were thrown away because they weren't used for official records.

Contreras said DeLoach and others like him won't be wiped out of the records completely. The plan is to build an archive that would be available on the Internet. Currently, the record book is printed in the state meet program.

"They're not lost," Contreras said. "People will still see that Joe DeLoach held the record and what time he ran."

John Gillis of the National Federation of State High School Associations records committee said the Texas change is significant.

Even if it doesn't alter any national marks, it will help compare historic performances in Texas against those in other parts of the country.

"Any time you can create more consistency and create a more even playing field, that's a good thing," Gillis said.