Meeting started at
Members Present: Ralph Ross (Executive Committee), Lou Fraulo
(Assistant Director), Carl Rickershauser (State Rules Interpreter), John Ponte
(Coach, Clifton High School), Bill Collins (Coach, Highland Regional High
School), Len Pietrewicz (Coach, Randolph High School), Elizabeth Morris (Coach,
Bridgewater-Raritan High School), Brian Wilkinson (Guest – Representing Toms
River Bennett Center), Don Danser (NJSIAA staff).
It
was generally agreed that the program had some problems (Relays were too long,
sectionals needed more time between sessions, and Group Meets running events
went too quickly), but by-and-large, went relatively well. A large part of the
success was due to Brian Wilkinson and all of the personnel of the
The first order of business
was correspondence. At the time of the meeting there was very little, which is
usually another sign that things went well.
1. Coach from Jackson Liberty questioned the
“late” disqualification of his relay team in the boys Group III meet. When a
coach complains about a call, lack of a call, scoring mistakes, etc., the
referee will investigate. If his findings warrant action, he takes it. In the
case of the lack of a call, the officials involved were thoroughly interviewed
by the referee. That information resulted in the disqualification that came
about 15 minutes after the race. All protocols that were followed were normal.
The only difference is that it is unusual for the referee to discover
information on a “no-call” by the umpires that would result in his declaring a
foul and issuing a disqualification.
2. The Head Coach of Bishop Eustace feels that
the Non-Public division is not “halved” correctly or fairly. He sites that in
NP A boys there were 309 entries while the NP B had 118. In the girls A had 232
while B had 163. Total number of schools that actually participated were 22 NP
A boys schools compared to 16 Non-Public B boys schools, while the girls had 16
NP A and 17 NP B. The present classification is based on schools who report
having winter track programs (as are all sports-specific classifications) not
on those who actually participate. This year 25 Non-public A schools participated
while 22 Non-Public B schools participated. Another factor is the single-gender
schools can throw off the “proportion” as seen with 22 A and 16 Boys schools,
but 16 A and 17 B girls schools. His proposal would be to use the top Group B
school in the General Classification (this year 568) as the dividing line for
the division. As he has been told in the past, the NJSIAA Constitution forbids
this. What we can do is look at the schools that had 10 or more entries into
the Group Meet tournament by sex and classify them (divide in half). This could
result in the boys team and girls team having a different classification.
The coach noted that there are no
Non-Public representatives on the cross-country or winter track committees. The
NJSIAA does not control the coaches placed on the committee. The New Jersey
State Coaches Association governing board makes those appointments. He should
take this matter up with them.
3. NJSIAA
does not have a corporate partner any longer dealing with getting hotels for
teams for athletic events. However, we did get a note from Penny A. Brown of
Days Hotel in
4. The only other correspondence dealt with Question
47 being false on the NFHS’s Track and Field Answer Key!
Next
Year’s Schedule
After
much debate on how the sectional schedule should be, the committee decided on
the following dates for next season (All
meets will be at the
I. Relays
II. Sectionals
Friday, Feb.5, 2010 Central
and South, Group 4 Boys and Girls
Note: Any weekday session
snowed out will first be made up on Sunday as an added 3rd session
with the sessions being rescheduled to
If more sessions are required
to be rescheduled they will be on Monday. If only one session, starting time
will be at
III. State Group Meets
IV. State Championships (Meet of Champions)
The following changes in Meet
Schedule will take place in all meets EXCEPT Meet of Champions
There will be two shot puts, two pole vaults and two high
jumps available which means
1. The
Shot will be conducted in the Intermediate School Gym adjacent to the bubble Boys
and girls will throw at the same time, but Groups will throw consecutive. For
example Boys North 1 Group 1 would throw first to a conclusion before Boys
North 2 Group 1 throws, while at the same time Girls North I Group 1 would
throw first to a conclusion followed by Girls North II Group I
2. There
will be two high jump pits, which means boys and girls will be jumping at the
same time. At the sectional level it means that the two groups (Like North
I Group I boys and North II Group I
Boys) will jump concurrently, like they did this season, while their female
counterparts will be jumping in the same manner at pit number 2, starting at
the same time.
3. There
will be two pole vault pits, which means which means boys and girls will be
jumping at the same time. At the sectional level it means that the two groups
(Like North I Group I boys and North II
Group I Boys) will jump concurrently, like they did this season, while their
female counterparts will be jumping in the same manner at pit number 2, starting
at the same time.
4. The
pole vault will work differently at the MEET of CHAMPIONS. Boys running events,
shot, and high jump will start at
The following changes have
been made for Seeding for the State Relays:
1. To be
considered for the top seeded sections/heats of an event, the coach must submit
by
[THIS
TABLE WILL LIST A SEED TIME BASED ON LAST YEAR’S MEET. IT WILL BE BROKEN DOWN
BY GROUP. This procedure will apply only to running events.]
No
other changes were made in the program. Meeting was adjourned at