Hy-Tek software used by Low-Tech meet directors
Is it me or is it them? Hy-Tek software is used everywhere, but when meets employ this record-keeping tool, they often fail to exploit its masters-friendly features. Latest example: The results I stumbled across of an all-comers indoor meet at the University of Missouri. The problem? Masters results are listed, but no age or age-group is specified. Geez, guys. Give us a break!
One learns that three masters competed in the 60:
Men 40+ 60 Meter Dash Masters
1 592 Bradey, John St. Louis, MO 8.01
2 1118 Wheeler, Gary Kansas City, MO 8.24
3 1117 Snook, James Overland Park, KS 9.28
The times could be mediocre or world records depending on the age-group context. But Mizzou doesn’t give us a clue.
This is frustrating, since it forces one to Google the names of the entrants to appreciate whether the times are any good. And it’s a lazy way of reporting results, since Hy-Tek software already affords listing of ages, as in this sample results sheet from the 2004 Boston indoor nationals.
In the case of the Missouri masters race, I find only James Snook via a quick Web search. Snook is an M60 multi-event guy, so his 9.28 is fair. (The M60 world record is 7.72.) But what if he were 85? He’d have smashed the WR by half a second! So even if size doesn’t matter in masters track, age does.
Missouri, thanks for giving the old guys a chance. But meet managers, please list the ages of your masters entrants.
