The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Four pet peeves that annoy in track and field
In his weekly high school sports opinion column, Chris Lillstrung shares four pet peeves that occur frequently amid high school track and field invitationals, including infield traffic.
A well-run track and field invitational reminds me of the way they cycle people around tourist attractions at Niagara Falls.
It’s basically controlled chaos, shepherding people around from one point to the next.
The problem is, once that control is taken away from the chaos, it becomes Hurricane Deck at Cave of the Winds.
(Which is a super fun thing to do, by the way, if you never have.)
With that in mind — and frankly, with all the times it’s not, I like to keep it light every now and then in this space — here are four small (stressing miniscule in the grand scheme) pet peeves that drive me up a wall at a track and field meet:
• INFIELD TRAFFIC » Student-athletes warming up on the infield or cooling down after a race and coaches keeping a sharp eye on their teams is commonplace in the sport.
Then magically over the course of the day, like bees swarming toward a hive, more student-athletes just find their way onto the infield.
Enthusiasm is awesome — we all want to see every runner and every field-event performer succeed to and above the best of their ability.
But people who aren’t “supposed” to be there on the infield make it a more difficult experience. The sheer volume of humanity makes it claustrophobic. When they run to the edge of the infield by the track to support a teammate, no one else on the infield can see what’s going on.
For the start of races, especially as an example something such as a 4x200, the officials need everyone on the infield to get down or out of the way. And virtually no one listens, so the exchange zones can’t properly see one another, delaying the start of a race until compliance happens.
And not that it’s ever enforced — nor should it be unless it’s blatant and egregious — but there’s actually been a pacing rule on the books. In that circumstance, if a teammate is running alongside someone on the track, that can be considered pacing assistance and the runner can be disqualified for that competitive advantage.
This traffic also affects timing crews’ ability to do their jobs because they can’t see a bulk of a race, especially the start, due to a sea of bodies in the way of their line of sight.
And yes, admittedly, when it’s my job to chronicle a meet in various forms in real time and beyond, selfishly it is easier when there’s less traffic.
Speaking of egregious, recently I covered an invitational in which a team set up its tent and team staging area on the infield. Imagine, at a swim meet, if someone decided to throw a floatie in the pool
and chill in the corner by Lane 8. Theoretically, it may not totally ruin the race for a Lane 8 competitor, because they could navigate around it to a large extent, but that’s not the point. You shouldn’t do it in the first place.
If everyone else is perfectly fine setting up shop in or behind the bleachers or out on the edges of the stadium, who suddenly coronated you as royalty so you get special privileges and can set up on the infield?
Perhaps being where you’re supposed to be, and bearing that in mind, probably wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world.
• STUDENT-ATHLETES ASKING WHERE CHECK-IN OCCURS » It happens at least twice per meet.
“Excuse me,” a studentathlete asks at the finish line tent. “Can you tell me where to check in for (insert race here)?”
It would be one thing if check-in occurred at different places from meet to meet: At the 100-meter start line, at the finish line tent, in the bleachers, virtually on FaceTime or Snapchat, a game of “find that official” as they meander through a facility in a neon hat, out in the parking lot.
But if every meet, like, ever, has check-in for most events at the 100 start line, with the noted exception of, say, throws or 300 hurdles, wouldn’t it stand to reason that check-in would likely be in the same place every single time?
Typically, they even announce where check-in will occur. And even if they haven’t, your coach is likely to provide that information to you.
In this one instance, it’s safe to assume unless indicated otherwise.
• RUNNING ACROSS THE FINISH LINE OR THE TRACK DURING A RACE »
This is aspirin-inducing when not done right.
So a race is on the track and is coming down the homestretch. The studentathletes contesting that particular heat are exerting as much as they can for the most optimal result.
Then someone thinks to themselves, “I’m just going to cross the finish line now,” or, “There’s plenty of time for me to trudge my way into the bleachers,” when the race is at the 75 mark.
Are you the only person in the facility and no one told the rest of the contingent who was there?
As the old saying goes, timing is everything.
For one thing, this chestnut affects the timers’ ability to gauge a
race, because that camera pointed on the finish line captures you crossing the line as if you were part of the race.
And while, fortunately, I’ve never seen a full-on collision at an invitational, it’s come pretty close between runners on the track and people indifferently crossing the homestretch, because clearly their destination is the only one that matters. Suffice to say, if one is worried about colliding with traffic from out of nowhere, they can’t concentrate on the race.
It’s like we were all taught when we were kids: Look both ways before crossing the street — and when it’s safe, cross quickly and be done with it.
• LONG WAIT TIMES BETWEEN HEATS »
This one, amid a day that’s already going to last several hours, is infuriating.
If student-athletes are already checked in for an event and are assembled as a collective, and the prior heat has concluded, bring the competitors down to start the next race.
I’ve seen instances in which it takes several minutes for the next heat to actually get on the track.
Sometimes, it’s the starter’s doing. Sometimes, it’s the student-athletes not properly paying attention.
A properly managed large-scale regular-season invitational can be done at the high school level in about a five-hour window. Six is acceptable as well. But when you start a meet at 9 a.m. and it doesn’t end until 4 — I’ve even seen a couple invitationals over the years take nine hours and not end until
6 — you have to wonder about the culprit.
A great starter gets competitors on the track like clockwork. Wasted time adds up. Controlled chaos, if you know where to go and what on which to focus, can be an enthralling experience.
And by the way, Hurricane Deck at Cave of the Winds is amazing, seeing nature in all its glory — until the moment, that is, Bridal Veil Falls overwhelms you with its power and makes you feel like you just stepped through the spin cycle of a washing machine.
Perhaps avoiding the spin cycle at a track and field meet would be more advisable for all of us.