IHSA

IHSA Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes - 2007-08

Boys/girls cross country Advisory Committee

November 27, 2007

The IHSA B/G Cross Country Advisory Committee met at the IHSA Office, Bloomington, Illinois on Tuesday, November 27, 2007, beginning at 10:00 a.m. Committee Members present were: Eric Wiegmann Chicago, (Young); John Szabo, Bloomington H.S.; Chris Perry, Peoria H.S.; Mike Garcia, Springfield (Lanphier); Tom Miller, Granite City H.S.; Gary Steiger (Palatine); John Kurtz Bensenville, (Fenton); Owen Fuller, Coordinator of Officials. Others in attendance, Ron McGraw, IHSA Asst. Executive Director; Zac Meyers, Peoria H.S.; Jerry Reibling, Official Scorer; Bob Geiger (ITCCCA); Art Paul, (ITCCCA); Greg Walters (ITCCCA); Jerry Parsons (ICA), and John Polka, Oak Park (Fenwick).

TERMS AND CONDITIONS RECOMMENDATIONS:

1. Item V-C: Class 3A Series (Proposed Change to the Current Terms and Conditions)

Recommendation: For 3A change to read: A total of twenty (20) regional meets will be created with four regional meets assigned to a correlated Sectional.
There will be five (5) correlated Sectionals.
Currently all Classes, 1A ,2A and 3A are designed to have 16 Regionals and 4 sectionals each.

Rationale: The original proposal provided that all classes were set up the same. The Advisory Committee believes that the new class system should reflect the old system relative to the number of sectionals. The old 2 class system provided the larger schools with an additional sectional meet (and 4 additional regionals) due to the large number of schools that competed with full teams. It is thought that the same philosophy should be present in the 3 class system. There will be more schools in class AAA and most of them will compete as a full team. Many times the smaller schools do not compete as a team, but rather as individuals. Obviously this improves the odds that those smaller number of schools competing for team honors will be successful. The motion was approved unanimously.

approved

2. VIII.-I: Watches (Timing Devices)

Recommendation: Beginning in the fall of 2008-2009, competitors will not be allowed to use (wear) watches of any type during IHSA cross country competition.

Rationale: This is consistent with the recent change to the track and field terms and conditions (watches will not be allowed in competition beginning this spring). The NFHS allows the State Associations to adopt regulations to deal with this issue and several States have done so. The watch is no longer needed to serve the original purpose in track and field when in the past competitors had only 10 minutes to get to their next event. Today the technology that is available to those that can afford it serves as an unfair aid.

approved

3. Item IX.-B-e Signs, Banners and Mechanical Noisemakers

Recommendation: Revise item IX.-B-e to indicate that it is meet management that will determine if any sign or banner is a safety hazard.

Rationale: While it seems obvious that meet management would be responsible for making such an assessment, meet management has a concern that this should be clearly defined in the terms and conditions.

approved

ADMINISTRATIVE RECOMMENDATIONS:

1. Awards Presentation
The suggestion was made to keep all of the top 25 individuals on stage so a group picture could be taken more easily by fans and coaches. This photo opportunity will be provided in the future.

2. State Final Finish Line Area
The finish area should be roped off at each end after each race to eliminate access to this already congested area. This security change will take place next year.

3. State Final Starting Line Area
It was recommended that precautions be taken to reduce the unauthorized traffic in the area in front of the starting line during the time prior to the start of each race. This traffic interferes with the warm ups of competitors. The area is currently roped off and meet management has staff in place to attempt to keep unauthorized personnel out of this area. However, additional steps will be taken in the future to attempt to eliminate the unauthorized traffic in this area.

4. Online List of Participant Data
It was suggested that IHSA supply the Regional and Sectional managers with a .csv file instead of the plain text file currently issued from the IHSA Office to managers to input into their computer operating systems to run their meets. IHSA Computer Operations manager has indicated that he is willing to work with anyone that can develop the changes necessary to implement this change. If you have the ability to make such changes and are willing to share those with the IHSA, contact Scott Johnson in the IHSA office.

5. Cross Country Race Records
The committee agreed with the IHSA opinion that the times recorded by the winners of each race will become the new record for that class. Therefore these new records will be posted online for boys and girls in all three classes.

ITEMS OF GENERAL DISCUSSION:
The committee reviewed and discussed all comments and suggestions sent to Ron McGraw. Many ideas were discussed and considered during the 3 hour meeting. All items that received a motion and a second from our group were voted on by the committee members.

Uniform review - Where bibs must be worn. In order to provide the most accurate video review used to score each race, it will remain a requirement to wear the bibs high on the jersey.
Tag distribution - Considered the option of distributing the tags on Friday. Meet management respectfully reserves the right to distribute the tags on the start line. Proceeding in this manner ensures the competitors are wearing the correct tags and makes the scoring process more accurate and more time efficient. An additional group of clerks will be added next year to help with this process. It is very likely that the tag will be attached to the bib in the near future.
Class 1A Regionals- Eliminate or modify regional competition in class 1A due to the smaller number of schools that field a team in that level of competition. This was simply a topic of discussion, no proposal was made, and consequently no vote was taken.
Host Allowance - Increase the host allowance to encourage schools to host regional and sectional meets. There are expenses associated with conducting these meets that can not be covered using the current host allowances. This is true for host schools that must use a facility that they do not own, such as a park or a forest preserve. The rental of portable restroom facilities alone can cost from $800.00 to $1,000.00. This concern will be shared with the IHSA Administrators and the Board of Directors.
Thank you - The committee thanked Chris Perry, Zac Meyers, and the entire staff from Peoria High School for their outstanding work in hosting the Cross Country State Finals once again in 2007.