The KHSAA Cross Country and Track Advisory Committee met last Friday in Lexington. This group made up of coaches, officials, school administrators and KHSAA leadership make recommendations for changes to cross country and track in Kentucky. Their recommendations are given to the KHSAA Board of Control to make the ultimate decision about any changes.
Here are some highlights from the meeting
-- It has been recommended that starting with the 2011 State Track Meet, the three classes will each have their own meets on separate days. Class AA will lead off on Thursday, Class A will be on Friday, and Class AAA on Saturday. The meets will start at 1:00pm with the field events and 3200m Relay competition. The rest of the running events will start at 4:00pm with the Girls 100m Hurdles. All field event competitions will be completed by 4:00 eliminating the need to check in and out for races. There would be no change in the number of competitors or the qualification process.
-- Six places currently score at the track regionals, and it has been suggested that eight places score. The number of medals awarded will still be six.
-- Currently, no athlete is allowed to wear a watch in any cross country or track competition. It is being recommended to allow all athletes to wear watches.
-- The University of Kentucky is redoing its track area and once completed they will be considered as an option to host the KHSAA State Track Meet once again.
-- The course currently used at the Horse Park for the Kentucky State Cross Country Meet is going to be changed. It will be in the same location but set up for better viewing by the crowd. The finish line issues will be resolved as well.
-- The State Cross Country Meet will have to be moved up a week due to another event being held the same weekend. The timetable on this change was not reported for sure.
-- No change was made to the current qualification process for the state cross country meet. It was the most discussed topic of the day.
-- The medical community is pushing for the competition part of cross country to not start as early as it does now due to the heat. With the move of the state meet up one week, the cross country season would be eight weeks in length which matches the other fall sports. (Once again, no timetable was reported.)
--- Track practices and meets will have to follow the same heat regulations as cross country starting this spring. Coaches will be required to keep track of the temperature, humanity, and heat index everyday. (This is a change that has already been approved.)