Cross Country State Meet Advancement
Proposal
Objectives:
1. Advance the most deserving teams and individuals to the State Cross Country Meet.
2. Preserve the WVSSAC’s objective of Regional Representation
3. Not add unduly to the number of competitors at the State Meet.
Benefits:
1. Coaches and athletes will know how many teams and individuals will advance when the season begins rather than at the starting line of the Regional Meet.
2. Stronger Regions advance more teams and individuals.
3. Advancement based more on quality than simply on participation.
4. Allows for shifts in power from various regions of the state to be reflected.
Methodology:
Utilize State Meet Results from the 2 years prior.
Determine the number of teams from each Region that finished in the top 6.
The number of teams that finished in the top 6 in the 2 years combined will be the number of teams that advance from that region the following year. A minimum of 2 teams will advance from each region to assure Regional Representation.
Determine the number of individuals from each Region that finished in the top 30.
The number of individuals that finished in the top 30 in the 2 years combined will be proportionally attributed to get to 40 individuals for the current year. A minimum of 7 individuals will advance from each region to assure Regional Representation.
Potential Pitfalls:
Possible overrepresentation of teams from a single region. If a Region had 3 really good teams that finished in the top 6 in both years, that region would get 6 teams even if that region’s #4 team was very weak. This could be in part mitigated by setting a Maximum of 5.
WVSSAC Regional Realignment – Realignment within Class actually doesn’t cause a problem. The performance moves with the team. If a team from Region IV that was in the top 6 in both prior years is moved to Region I, that top 6 performance moves with them. The same goes for individuals.
WVSSAC Classfication Changes – This one is a little more tricky, but still workable. For individuals, it’s not that difficult. Simply take the time of the individuals rising or dropping in a class and place that time in the results for the two years and adjust the top 30’s for those changes. For teams, it’s a little more work. It will require adjusting the entire set of results to account for those teams that moved up or down and recalculating the team scores. If a team didn’t qualify for the State Meet in its prior division, it would not garner any consideration for advancement positions in its new division.
Results – The above advancement criteria would result in the following calculation for the 2014 Cross Country Season
Class AAA Girls
Top 6 Teams over 2 Years Teams that advance in 2014
Region I 6 5 (due to maximum)
Region II 2 2
Region III 0 2 (due to minimum)
Region IV 4 4
Top 30 Individuals over 2 Years Individuals that advance in 2014
Region I 26 17
Region II 12 8
Region III 5 7 (due to minimum)
Region IV 17 11
Class AAA Boys
Top 6 Teams over 2 Years Teams that advance in 2014
Region I 6 5 (due to maximum)
Region II 2 2
Region III 1 2 (due to minimum)
Region IV 3 3
Top 30 Individuals over 2 Years Individuals that advance in 2014
Region I 20 13
Region II 16 11
Region III 6 7 (due to minimum)
Region IV 18 12
Class A-AA Girls
Top 6 Teams over 2 Years Teams that advance in 2014
Region I 3 3
Region II 5 5
Region III 0 2 (due to minimum)
Region IV 4 4
Top 30 Individuals over 2 Years Individuals that advance in 2014
Region I 16 11
Region II 23 15
Region III 3 7 (due to minimum)
Region IV 18 12
Class A-AA Boys
Top 6 Teams over 2 Years Teams that advance in 2014
Region I 4 4
Region II 7 5 (due to maximum)
Region III 0 2 (due to minimum)
Region IV 1 2 (due to minimum)
Top 30 Individuals over 2 Years Individuals that advance in 2014
Region I 21 14
Region II 26 17
Region III 2 7 (due to minimum)
Region IV 11 7