Landover meet director invites questions, promises fixes
Craig Chasse, the Potomac Valley Track Club leader, was meet director for the Landover nationals, and he writes: “Let your bloggers know I will resolve any error they might find in the results. They can send their event and details directly to me if they haven’t already done so.” His address is cchasse.acds@juno.com. That’s brave of Craig — the least he can do. But the timing and results fiasco at our indoor nationals — with several world and American records at risk — needs to be fully understood and explained. Descriptions of the debacle continue to pour in, including one by a high jumper: “There were 17 women doing the open high jump at the same time. After the first 3-4 competitors were out, there was a conference among the officials that lasted almost 10 minutes. Then the officials had to have a shorter conference every time the bar was raised.”
This athlete continued:
I’m sure the paperwork they were doing . . . was necessary to end up with accurate results, and we were all very appreciative of the job the officials did — it wasn’t their fault that there were 17 in one flight! When asked why it was set up that way, (they told us) that “usually they don’t all show up!” I don’t know what experience they were talking about, but we all knew each other! We always show up! Note: There was another high jump pit not in use the whole time that we were jumping.
8 Responses
Ken, it’s quite a stretch to call the meet a “debacle.” In fact, it was a very nice meet, with one overwhelming problem (the timing and official results for the running events).
I was very impressed with the cordial manner and professionalism of the high jump officials, but I agree that 17 is far too many for a single flight.
I’m not sure how I would even know if the times weren’t correct. How can I verify them in comparison to the official ones?
I did not set any records or even come close, so it is not a crucial issue in my case. But for others it may be.
That’s an excellent question, Margaret. For example, I just looked at the M65 times in the 200 dash — they appear to be suspicious, but there is no court in the land in which I would testify that they are wrong (how could I know for sure?). Oh, well.
Margaret, I look forward to announcing you in Oshkosh, which I believe is no more than 2 hours from where you live. I just checked “Status of Entries” on the meet’s Web site, and we are now up to 14. If we can get Mellow Johnny to enter, that will be 15.
An additional 1286 entrants would establish a new high for a nationals in the Midwest (the current record is 1300 — East Lansing, Michigan in 1995). Can’t wait to announce in Oshkosh; maybe I can make up for my shortcomings in Landover.
What company did the FAT timing?
If I were a betting person, I would bet that Sandy has been provided enough contradiction and doubt so as to not certify records from this meet.
Peter has shortcomings? I know of none! He did a fantastic job!
Peter, I’m entered at Oshkosh and Lahti. Looking forward to seeing you at both, possibly, or at Oshkosh certainly. It’s always nice to be remembered.
Jerry
In my opinion , meet administration and management were good compared to most masters championships. Officials were professional and accomodating.
1) The flight groupings made sense administratively;however, this was not always appropriate for flight size and age groupings.
1A) Advancement was probably a moot issue in most instances, some of the officials did not appear to understand that it was not necessary to sort for advancement to finals for less than 8 competitors. ( commom problem at many championships).
2) The venue for the older throwers was less than desirable, including studio space, circle, landing area, lighting, and competitor holding area.
Leave a Reply