IHSA Announcements
October 13, 2009
IHSA Board Approves Lacrosse State Series For 2010-11
The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Board of Directors approved a recommendation at its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, October 13 to adopt an official State Series for the sports of Boys Lacrosse and Girls Lacrosse beginning with the 2010-11 school term. The official IHSA lacrosse season, State Series and State Finals will be contested during the spring semester.
The addition of lacrosse will bring the total number of boys and girls sports contesting state championships to 15 apiece, while the overall number of IHSA sports and activities will grow to 43.
“The goal of the IHSA is to provide quality interscholastic opportunities for students in the state and the Board recognized that the addition of boys and girls lacrosse helps support that mission,” said IHSA Executive Director Marty Hickman. “The Board’s decision was consistent with the procedures used when adopting several other recent sports and activities, including water polo and journalism.”
The Board did create a contingency that 65 boys lacrosse teams and 40 girls lacrosse teams must be registered to participate in the state series by the February 1, 2011 spring sport deadline in order for either sport to crown a state champion in 2010-11. According to the IHSA Emerging Sports List, there are currently 65 schools fielding boys lacrosse teams in the state and 40 fielding girls lacrosse teams.
Even if the contingency prevents the inaugural state series from occurring during the 2010-11 school term, Hickman reiterated that the Board’s decision on Tuesday will only help the sport’s growth in Illinois.
“The Board felt it was important to put contingencies in place to preserve the esteem of the tournament and crowning a state champion, even if it has the possibility of delaying the start of a state series until beyond 2010-11. Regardless, we feel like the IHSA’s endorsement of the sport will help bring more legitimacy to club and intramural programs around the state and that many more schools will field squads in the coming years.”
Currently, 17 other state associations crown champions in boys and girls lacrosse.
TERMS & CONDITIONS RECOMMENDATIONS
Boys Baseball
1. The State Final schedule will now be as follows:
FRIDAY
Game 1 10 a.m.
Game 2 Noon
Game 3 3 p.m.
Game 4 5 p.m.
SATURDAY
Game 5 9 a.m.
Game 6 The Championship Game will begin immediately after the conclusion of the Third-place game and awards.
Game 7 3 p.m.
Game 8 The Championship Game will begin immediately after the conclusion of the Third-place game and awards.
Girls Softball
1. The State Final schedule will now be as follows:
FRIDAY
Game 1 9:30 a.m.
Game 2 Noon
Game 3 4:30 p.m.
Game 4 7 p.m.
SATURDAY
Game 5 9:30 a.m.
Game 6 The Championship Game will begin immediately after the conclusion of the Third-place game and awards.
Game 7 4:30 p.m.
Game 8 The Championship Game will begin immediately after the conclusion of the Third-place game and awards.
Boys/Girls Track & Field
1. The following state final qualifying standards were approved:
Class 1A Girls Same as 2008-09
Class 2A Girls Same as 2008-09
Class 3A Girls Event Manual Time F.A.T. Time
4x100 Relay 49.8 50.24
1600M Run 5:17.00 5:17.23
4x200 Relay 1:45.5 1:45.74
Class 1A Boys Same as 2008-09
Class 2A Boys Same as 2008-09
Class 1A Boys Event Manual Time/Mark F.A.T. Time
4x100 Relay 42.7 42.94
High Jump 6’-5”
2. Sectional track meets will be held on Thursdays or Fridays beginning in the 2009-10 school term. Exemptions for Saturday Sectional meets may be made when circumstances of extreme travel or facility availability arise.
Bass Fishing
1. Each Sectional will have three boats that qualify for the state finals.
OTHER ACTION ITEMS
1. The Board approved a recommendation to adopt new Boys and Girls Swimming & Diving State Final qualifying standards. New standards were adopted in June for 2009-10, but were adjusted Tuesday due to the ban on high-tech swimsuits by the NFHS in August. The new standards are the same as 2008-09 and are listed below:
EVENT GIRLS BOYS
200 Yard Medley Relay 1:51.87 1:40.23
200 Yard Freestyle 1:57.03 1:46.59
200 Yard Individual Medley 2:12.69 * 2:00.68
50 Yard Freestyle 24.84 * 22.21
100 Yard Butterfly 1:00.01 53.80
100 Yard Freestyle 53.99 * 48.69
500 Yard Freestyle 5:13.93 * 4:50.25
200 Yard Freestyle Relay 1:40.19 * 1:29.58
100 Yard Backstroke 1:00.59 55.07
100 Yard Breaststroke 1:08.49 1:02.19
400 Yard Freestyle Relay 3:39.90 3:16.96
* Indicates the use of the previous year’s qualifying standard (from 07-08). Athletes who equal or exceed the standards in the Sectional Meets qualify automatically for the State Final Meet.
2. The Board approved a recommendation to extend the girls basketball state final contract at Redbird Arena on the Illinois State University campus through 2014-15. The current contract was set to end after this year’s tournament. The bid was submitted by Illinois State University, the Bloomington-Normal Area Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Bloomington-Normal Sports Commission.
ISU’s Horton Fieldhouse hosted the first IHSA Girls Basketball State Final in 1977, before the event moved to Champaign the next season. It returned to ISU in 1992 and has remained at Redbird Arena since. In September, the IHSA Board extended the Girls Volleyball State Final contract at Redbird Arena through the 2014-15 school term.
IHSA Executive Director Marty on the contract extension:
“Bloomington-Normal and Illinois State University have been great hosts and we are happy to extend our partnership in girls basketball, just as we recently did with the girls volleyball state finals. This extension is a testament to all the individuals that comprise these organizations, as well the Bloomington-Normal community, and the hard work they put forth in providing first-class state final events.”
3. The Board held an election to fill the positions of President, Vice President and Secretary within the Board. Anna (A.-Jonesboro) Principal Jim Woodward and Clinton Principal Ron Conner were reelected as the Board President and Vice President, respectively, positions they have held since the 2005-06 school year. East Peoria Principal Paul Whittington was voted to serve as the Board Secretary.
4. The Board approved the reappointment of Mt. Zion Principal Greg Bradley to serve as the IHSA Board Treasurer.
5. The Board approved a recommendation to add a “limited use” concept to the IHSA Royalty Vendor License, which will allow a vendor to service a local school for a single, non-state final, state series event.
6. The Board approved the appointment of Carterville Principal Keith Liddell to the IHSA Legislative Commission to represent Legislative District 21.
7. The Board found Casey-Westfield to be in breach of a contract with Manteno. Casey-Westfield will reimburse Manteno for costs associated with the event and has been placed on probation.
ELIGIBILITY RULINGS
1. The Board sustained the Executive Director’s ruling on a student from Aurora (Central Catholic). The student was ruled ineligible for non-compliance with IHSA By-law 3.043.
DISCUSSION ITEMS
At each meeting of the Board of Directors, there are certain items the Board discusses, but upon which no action is taken. The following is a report of those items from the October 13, 2009, agenda:
- The Executive Director reviewed the IHSA/IESA Luncheon, which will be held on October 20 at the Illinois Principals Conference in Peoria. University of Illinois head basketball coach Bruce Weber will serve as the luncheon speaker.
- The Executive Director reviewed the NFHS Section IV meeting held in Wisconsin on September 24-25.
- The Executive Director reviewed the proposals submitted by member schools this year. The IHSA Legislative Commission will meet on November 2 to review the proposals.
- Assistant Executive Directors Kurt Gibson and Beth Sauser gave a report on the first meeting of the Governance Action Team’s first meeting on September 16.
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