Area Meets

[ncplaya]

UIL either needs to make Area mandatory or do away and go back to top 3.  I understand a vote of no for area if you have a relay that has a good chance at State.  Just an extra meet for a bad exchange.  But other than that, lazy track coaches or admins are screwing kids out of regionals.  Any thoughts? With no are you have 3's and 4's that are better than some other districts 1 and 2.  And you have bronze medalists on the awards stands that stay home.  crazy

[JSnipes]

I am a local head track coach and I really liked the idea of Area when it first came about. The idea was to make Regionals better because you don't always get the top 3 in each race from each district because some of those athletes will be dropped from individual races and put on relays. You also have some districts that are tremendous in some events and it's very possible that the #4 in that district is good enough to make the Regional finals.

 

With that said, the idea of Area is good but I agree that it should become mandatory. If our Area meet gets rained out it will be very unfortunate for many athletes. For example, our top 5 shot put throwers trumped our neighboring districts first place throw. You also see the same results in the 300mH. Our top 6 were better than their first place finish. You can look at the results and see this in numerous events, some they win and some we win. Obviously this doesn't mean it will happen again when the districts meet up. You don't know the conditions each district was facing and how hard some athletes had to push to win their event. The purpose of Area was to benefit the athletes and get the best athletes through to Regionals. The only way to make this happen is to make it mandatory.

[dayton]

UIL either needs to make Area mandatory or do away and go back to top 3.  I understand a vote of no for area if you have a relay that has a good chance at State.  Just an extra meet for a bad exchange.  But other than that, lazy track coaches or admins are screwing kids out of regionals.  Any thoughts? With no are you have 3's and 4's that are better than some other districts 1 and 2.  And you have bronze medalists on the awards stands that stay home.  crazy

totally agree playa. Lots of fast kids, good jumpers and throwers sitting at home, that would be district champs in other districts.

[dayton]

I am a local head track coach and I really liked the idea of Area when it first came about. The idea was to make Regionals better because you don't always get the top 3 in each race from each district because some of those athletes will be dropped from individual races and put on relays. You also have some districts that are tremendous in some events and it's very possible that the #4 in that district is good enough to make the Regional finals.

 

With that said, the idea of Area is good but I agree that it should become mandatory. If our Area meet gets rained out it will be very unfortunate for many athletes. For example, our top 5 shot put throwers trumped our neighboring districts first place throw. You also see the same results in the 300mH. Our top 6 were better than their first place finish. You can look at the results and see this in numerous events, some they win and some we win. Obviously this doesn't mean it will happen again when the districts meet up. You don't know the conditions each district was facing and how hard some athletes had to push to win their event. The purpose of Area was to benefit the athletes and get the best athletes through to Regionals. The only way to make this happen is to make it mandatory.

good post. No other UIL sport (as far as i know) allows districts to vote on the # of qualifiers moving on to the postseason. Ridiculous.

[AggiesAreWe]

Area meets should be mandatory. Makes Regionals unbalanced if some districts participate in area but the rest do not.

[oldschool2]

totally agree playa. Lots of fast kids, good jumpers and throwers sitting at home, that would be district champs in other districts.

That's true with every sport. Some districts are just stronger than others. It's part of it.

[JSnipes]

That's true with every sport. Some districts are just stronger than others. It's part of it.

Agreed but that is supposed to be the point of Area, to make sure the top athletes are getting there.

 

Last year Panhandle went 1-2-3 at state in the Boys shot put. That would not have happened had UIL not added the ninth qualifier. One of those three boys would have been sitting at home and they finished 1-2-3. I understand the back in the day argument (when I was in school it was top 2 to regionals), but the point of the new rules is to make sure the best athletes get through. I'm not saying that I agree or disagree with the new rule because it doesn't matter, the rule is in place. The best overall athletes will never advance until Area is mandatory. 

[dayton]

That's true with every sport. Some districts are just stronger than others. It's part of it.

I agree.... but there should be an equal # of postseason qualifiers from every district.

[The Goat]

http://parser.dyestat.com/meetresults.jsp?meetID=81813#.VTnGkcko7qA