tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31292861.post5218336828687256973..comments2024-03-27T17:43:26.504-07:00Comments on Cross Country Express: The best meet that isn'tAlbert Caruanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14434646351717864405noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31292861.post-39602600409010663082010-05-23T11:47:31.365-07:002010-05-23T11:47:31.365-07:00The reason the area meets went to the current for...The reason the area meets went to the current format was a culmination of a series of format changes the NCS went through. <br /><br />At one time the qualifying rounds were a mixture of geographic and school size meets. We had the Class A meet, the 2A meet north, the 2A meet south, and the 3A meet. These were all apportioned qualifiers to make 16 total to advance to the NCS MOC.<br /><br />One of the major concerns at the time was that when one region was strong in an event, at times a top athletes was left home who would have moved on from another regional meet. This resulted in the NCS MOC opening up to 24 total entrants.<br /><br />With the current arrangement of the the three regional meets (Tri-Valley, Bay Shore, Redwood Empire) plus the Class A, the regional meets were allotted 7 qualifiers.<br /><br />Well, it quickly became apparent that with a 2-day format, 8 finalists would qualify to the finals, and then run another race to eliminate just one position. Concerns were raised that this was essentially a wasted day, with little more than pro forma performances by the athletes and an additional day off from classes. Hence, the format was changed from to a one day, timed final format.<br /><br />Complaints that there were top athletes still being left behind were addressed with the at-large standards. <br /><br />I distinctly remember Doug Courtemarche giving me an earful after the first such Redwood Empire meet, where he was tremendously upset about the format change since it did away with what Jim Crowhurst pointed out. There was no head-to-head competition and therefore no direct determination of either an individual champion or team champion. Apparently, this sentiment still runs strong in the Redwood Empire, but is barely a whisper of a thought in the other two regionals. Personally, I think that the regional pride of the Redwood Empire is to be admired, and does much to promote the sport and the competitive level of performers in such a wide-spread area. However, the NCS does have this format set up, and so it goes.<br /><br /><br />Perhaps the Redwood Empire could ask for some regional autonomy, and ask to reinstate a two day format just for themselves. The top 7 qualifiers would still move on, and the legitimacy of the winners would be validated. I know that many of the participating schools have to travel quite a distance in any case, and an extra day is not an inconvenient factor. (The Bayshore and Tri-Valley meets do not involved anything upwards of an hour's travel for any team, if that.) I don't know if this idea has been floated in the past, but it might be worth a try.<br /><br />I just wanted to add a little historical perspective on Jim's "rant" so that folks can see his frustration with a qualifying process that has trumped a long-standing regional championship meet.<br /><br />Peter Brewer<br />NorthgatePeter Brewernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31292861.post-52191293902025434252010-05-20T13:20:24.594-07:002010-05-20T13:20:24.594-07:00Essentially they are treating Redwood Empire, Tri-...Essentially they are treating Redwood Empire, Tri-Valley, Bay Shore, etc as the preliminary heats for MOC and I guess seeding is done by results from league meets. <br /><br />Making fast and slow heats defeat that purpose plus penalizes athletes who didn't have to go far, fast, high in their league meet to advance unless you seed by best year performance. <br /><br />If you want to make Redwood, Tri-Valley, etc true championship meets then you'd have to turn them into 2-day affairs. A one day meet where some events have trials (100/200, hurdles?) and others are timed finals with fast/slow heats (800, 1600, 3200?) is not optimal either.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01796594151960082757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31292861.post-74519961937820284112010-05-20T12:56:22.284-07:002010-05-20T12:56:22.284-07:00So is Bay Shore.So is Bay Shore.Andrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03656266952694348739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31292861.post-84046381247918305782010-05-20T09:49:04.963-07:002010-05-20T09:49:04.963-07:00Tri-Valley meet is seeded the same way.Tri-Valley meet is seeded the same way.that guynoreply@blogger.com