The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) has made some rule changes for track and cross country that could have an effect on high school meets in Mississippi.
NFHS establishes rules for its member organizations, including the Mississippi High School Activities Association. As a member organization, MHSAA must abide by NFHS rules and regulations.
One change expands the exchange zone for relays with legs of 200 meters or less from 20 to 30 meters. For Mississippi, that would affect the 4 by 100 and 4 by 200 meter relays. The exchange zone remains at 20 meters for the 4 for 400 and 4 by 800 races.
Choctaw County girls track coach Jim Wood said the change could affect strategy. “Whoever is running your first leg in the 4 by 100 might not have to run a full 100 meters,” he said. “It will make you think about who you put in each leg.”
Wood cannot recall having a relay team disqualified for an exchange out of the zone. “What you see more often is a dropped baton or something like that. I’ve seen very little running out of the exchange zone.”
French Camp track and cross country coach Joe Watkins said the rule change won’t have much of affect on his team. “We haven’t been able to put together a 4 by 2 or 4 by 1 team in a long time.”
He added, “I don’t think it’s a bad change because I have seen a ton of people getting disqualified because the exchange zone is small. There will be fewer disqualifications and that’s a good thing. I have been an exchange judge at many district and regional meets. You hate to disqualify a team because they grabbed the baton just one step early.
A change amends Rule 6-2-6 prohibiting athletes from running backward or in the opposite direction during warmup for the long jump, triple jump, pole vault and javelin throw. “That’s the only one I have a problem with,” Watkins said. “That’s really weird. I don’t understand it.
“If you’re a long jumper you need to know exactly where to start. When you run and take off you’re not looking at the board. The way people figure that spot is they run the wrong way down the lane. They get a coach or teammate to watch them. That’s a really normal practice activity.”
He said the change will prevent jumpers from doing what they need to do for success. “I don’t understand it because I don’t think it causes that much chaos.”
Wood said, “I don’t think that is going to be a big deal. We warm up both ways. We go in reverse to make sure the steps are right. But that’s a simple fix.”
Another rule change amends Rule 4 (Competitors and Competition) and Rule 8 (Cross Country). It reads, “A competitor who provides assistance to an injured or ill competitor should not be disqualified if neither the individual competitor providing the assistance nor his/her team gains an advantage as a result of providing the assistance.”
While the injured or ill competitor is disqualified for receiving help, the competitor helping will not be disqualified, unless that competitor – or his/her team – gains an advantage. In all cases, the final decision rests with the meet referee, who has the sole authority to rule on infractions, irregularities and disqualifications in a meet.
Wood and Watkins both said the change is a case of common sense and safety. “I think it’s a good idea because we are preaching sportsmanship to the kids,” Wood said.
Watkins said “It’s just being a good sport. You don’t want to call them out for that.”
The change will mainly affect cross country because of the longer distances.
NFHS recommends a minimum distance of 100 meters for beginning straightaways on cross country courses. The recommendation is to assure that runners are spaced out when they hit the first curve, preventing a bottleneck that could be a problem.
“I’ve only been to one meet that had a poor setup,” Watkins said. “It was on the underside of 100 meters, probably closer to 70. You had to sprint your tail off. That was a meet that I went to three years ago and haven’t been back since.
The start at Choctaw Trails in Jackson, site of MHSAA championship meets, is well over 100 meters, a necessity for class races with more than 100 competitors.
