New rule implemented to track sprints

INDIANAPOLIS — Effective with the 2025 season, races in high school track and field will be recalled in the first 50 meters when a competitor falls because of contact with another competitor. This change, which was one of eight revisions recommended by the NFHS track and field and cross country rules committee at its June 10-12 meeting in Indianapolis, relates to races not run in lanes, or when two or more competitors are assigned to a single lane. All the committee's recommended changes were subsequently approved by the NFHS Board of Directors. Julie Cochran, NFHS director of sports and editor of the NFHS track and field rules, said the committee determined that 50 meters is sufficient in calling a fair start, which previously was listed at 100 meters. "Athletes are accelerating and are up to racing speed well before the 100-meter mark," Cochran said. "In addition, the current recall distance is problematic depending on the number of officials on the track and location of field events that may obstruct the view of the 100-meter distance around the entire curve." And while the rule may seem impactful on the surface, two area coaches said not to expect it to change much. "These rules are not going to change much, except in the big meets," Norwalk head coach Phil Oglesby said. "The restart used to be 100 meters, which is coming out of the turn and usually affected 800 and 1600 races, as they tend to start more than one to a lane. "The quick start, jostling for positions coming out of the turn, is usually where you would get people tripping which is the first 50 meters," he added. Oglesby noted in smaller dual meets, there are usually not officials on the backstretch to monitor such infractions. "It was usually a contentious coach lodging the allegation, which usually falls on deaf ears," he said. "The 800 race stagger cut in is not until the third turn. It's easier for an official to claim interference going into the home stretch, as they can see it from their vantage where they started the race 100 meters down the track." St. Paul head coach Bob Pabst said the 50-meter rule is sufficient, but not because of anything procedural. "It's mostly because I have rarely, if ever, seen a race called back for a fall," he said. In other changes, the committee approved a reorganization of Rules 5-10 and 5-11 regarding relays and relay infractions. All infractions were moved into Rule 5-11, which will be easier for officials to use and enforce. While none of the infractions are new, the revised rule provides a listing of the 14 occurrences when a relay team will be disqualified. The committee also provided clarification to a change in field events that was implemented last year. Last year, the revision to Rule 6-2-2 permitted one minute for the first trial of a competitor first entering the high jump and pole vault competition. This year, the committee approved the following two notes for additional clarification. 6-2-2 note 1 states that "at any given bar height, the time for all competitors remains the same until the next bar height is established." The 6-2-2 note 2 states that "regardless of the number of competitors remaining, the first attempt of a competitor entering the competition — at any height — is one minute." The committee approved four other field events revisions. In 6-2-2 regarding general rules for field events, a new sub-article (f) was approved regarding the one-minute time limit to compete. Rule 6-2-2f states that "the competitor shall be warned either verbally or by signal when 15 seconds remain in the time allowed." In 6-3-2 note 1 regarding breaking ties, language was added to provide directions to officials and event judges for the starting height in a jump-off when athletes exit the event at varying heights because of passes. The jump-off will begin at the next height in the progression after the tying height. In Rule 6-8-2 regarding vertical jumps, the committee provided clarification in definitions for an active flight (five-alive) and a continuing flight (straight-through). The revised rule is as follows: "When the number of entries dictates, the games committee may assign competitors to active flights (five alive) of no less than five competitors or may conduct the event in continuing flights (straight-through). In active flights, the five competitors, as determined by the games committee, constitute a flight." In Rule 6-9-22 regarding venue specifications, an additional sentence states that "the plane of the crossbar shall not be less than 4 inches from the landing pad." Pabst said as simple of a change that Rule 6-9-22 is, it may have the biggest impact locally. "Most venues, in the past, set the landing pad fairly close to the plane of the bar," he said. "I think for most small meets, this will not really be checked or imposed. So when you get to a big meet or the postseason when this rule will be put into effect, the visual look of the landing pad being behind the bar may throw off some high jumpers." A final change included clarification provided for Rule 5-13-3 regarding infractions for races not run in lanes. A complete listing of the track and field rules changes will be available on the NFHS website at nfhs.org. According to the 2022-23 NFHS high school athletics participation survey, track and field is the second-most popular sport for boys with 604,983 participants in 17,038 schools. It's the No. 1 sport for girls with 486,355 participants in 16,997 schools. After reading about the changes, Oglesby said his frustration is at the state level, not the national. Despite most sports such as volleyball, soccer, basketball and others expanding from three or four divisions to seven, the two running sports — cross country and track and field — remained at three divisions. "The driving force for not changing things is how they define the size of a minimum track and field team, and the number of schools represented at the state meet," Oglesby said. "They compare it to the team bracketed tournament where you get to two schools in a given division competing for the champion of that division. But in track, there have been individuals from a school that have single-handedly won a state team title," he added. "Comparing track and cross country formats to winning state to all other sports is like apple and oranges. In Norwalk's case, the Truckers will again remain among the smallest participating schools in Division I. They compete with school's with up to x-times the enrollment. "They are also not acknowledging the post-COVID reality of less participation in athletics in general," Oglesby said. "With our 120-kid roster, we have bucked the trend. But for most schools, their rosters are shrinking, but are held to the same OHSAA guideline for which division they are placed in." Last year, Norwalk's girls enrollment of 303 fell in the Div. I range of 276-1,241. In boys, NHS had a number of 341 in a Div. I range of 284-1,300. This month, the Truckers will be Div. I in boys cross country with an enrollment of 319. That is the 11th-smallest, while 57 other schools have double or more than Norwalk's number. "St. Paul is in the same boat in Division III with 55 girls in a range of 31-to-145 and 83 boys in a range of 32-to-148," Oglesby said of last year's enrollment. "Over the past four years, I purposely selected a tough schedule just to prepare the kids to the level of competition they will face in the postseason. "It appears to be working, as our kids are not phased about competing against the highest level of competition in the state. But it's still not right when it comes to districts, regionals and state."