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Another University Interscholastic League state track and field meet is in the books.
In Bastrop County, one athlete—Maggie Haywood—competed in the Class 5A girls long jump. Haywood finished ninth in the event.
With six classifications and three days of competition—Class 3A and 4A on Thursday, 2A and 5A on Friday, and A and 6A on Saturday—it’s long overdue for an expansion of competition and qualifiers.
Under the current format, the top two finishers and the best third-place finisher across the state from the regional meets qualify for the state meet, resulting in nine competitors per event.
Why not take the top three finishers in each event, along with the next four best across the state? This would give us 16 qualifiers per event.
This format would require preliminary races for each classification. It would expand the state track meet to six days instead of three, with each classification competing over two days.
The Class 3A and 4A meet would take place on Monday and Tuesday. Monday would feature half of the field events and the preliminary races—the remaining field events and final races would take place Tuesday.
The Class 2A and 5A meet would be held on Wednesday and Thursday, with Wednesday following the Monday format and Thursday following the Tuesday format. The Class A and 6A meet would occur on Friday and Saturday, following the same respective structure.
Since Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin—home of the state track and field meets—has a nine-lane track, the running preliminaries would include an empty lane on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Lane 5 could serve as a spot for the race starter during the preliminaries.
For the running finals, however, the top nine preliminary finishers would qualify. This would occupy all nine lanes and require the race starter to stand in the traditional spot.
In field events, each competitor receives three attempts in the preliminaries, and the top eight earn three additional attempts in the finals. The top mark from the six attempts determines the winner.
With three extra days and seven additional competitors per event, the UIL state track meets could generate more revenue. It also would align with the district and area meets, where the top four finishers in each event advance to the next round.
If the top four finishers can advance from district meets to area and from area to regional, then the top three finishers and the next four best times, distances or heights should advance from regional to state.
It’s time for a change.
Chlapek is the area editor of the Elgin Courier. He can be reached at jason.chlapek@granitemediapartners.
com.
