The Cross Country Coaches' Committee Meeting was held today (December 9th) at the WVSSAC offices in Parkersburg. Below is a summary of items discussed. If any committee member or Mr. Comer or Mr. Messenger has a different interpretation, by all means, let me know.

Remember that any proposal by the coaches' committee has to be further approved by the WVSSAC Board of Control.

2. A few rule clarifications will be added to the Interscholastic, and a few redundant items will be removed. There was nothing of high significance here, but I will note the specification that while itmes like gloves and arm sleeves are permitted, they must meet the logo restrictions of uniform items.

3. Mr. Comer discussed the need for the Pre-Meet Medical Time-Out. This should be done by an administrator of the school and take place during the coaches' meeting. It should include the adminastrator, the coaches of all teams present at the meet, and any medical personnel and trainers available at the meet. Items to be covered at the meeting include the location of medical personnel at the meet, the location of a cooling station, the location of an AED, and this would be when any specific medical concerns of a particular athlete would be communicated to the medical personnel and meet staff.

4. It was requested that the Class AAAA Regions (and any Classifications that end up with just two regions) revert back to 5 Exclusive rather than 10. The 10 was used to be proportional with the other divisions but resulted in athletes placing in the bottom 3rd of their Regional advancing. After discussion, it was decided to table this item for a year to gather more data.

5. It was requested that the 5 Meet Requirement for Teams be removed or reduced. This is based on the preference of some coaches to focus on training rather than racing, and also due to the fact that some schools have to fund raise to be able to pay entry fees or pay for travel to meets. This was denied. I don't recall that it actually came to a vote, but no one was passionate about advancing it.

6. It was requested that if a Region does not fill its alotted team spots, then 4th place teams from other Regions could advance to fill those spots. The proposal stated that if there were more 4th place teams than spots available, then no 4th place team would advance. It was further determined that the 5 Exclusive Individuals would not be impacted by the "at-large" advancement of this 4th place team. While there was general support for this, it was decided to be tabled for the time being.

7. It was requested that competitive balance, or at least participation balance, be used as a factor in Regional lineups. It was noted that in Class AA Girls, 2 Regions had 29 runners each while one had just 13, and in Class A girls, there was one Region with just 8 girls. In discussion, it was noted that the Regional Alignments are generally the same across sports, so moving a team to create competitive balance or participation balance in Cross Country could create imbalance in another sport. I don't think this came to a vote, but I don't think it was officially tabled either. I have written down TBD. I believe Mr. Comer was going to float the idea, but it did not sound promising.

7B. - While discussion was occuring, the possibility came up of shifting Class AAA to the North/South Region format along with Class AAAA. Two Class AAA Regions are being hosted at the same location anyway, so travel is not a factor, and it would ease the burden on the host school in terms of time. After much discussion on this item over various points during the meeting, the Committee passed this proposal. However, Mr. Comer noted that the WVSSAC had to see how it fit in with other sports. Would other sports need to shift to a North/South format as well? So the committee passed this, but it's very "pending."

8. It was requested that we clarify and spell out the procedure for the possibility of 5 (or more) individuals qualifying out of a Region. Should they count as a team? How will they line up? It was determined that if 5 or more runners from a team qualify individually (as happened this year with Williamstown, Huntington, and Woodrow Wilson), that they would score as a team, but only those individuals would be eligible to run. No substitutions would be permitted. Additionally, since they will be scored as a team, they will be assigned a single box, putting no more than 3 of their runners on the front line.

9. It was requested that State Meet Plaques specify the place of the Individual rather than just "Top Ten." Mr. Comer indicated that this would be handled.

10. It was requested that the lights remain on in the gym longer to prevent line congestion of people heading into the awards ceremony. It was noted that people stepped into the darkened gym from outside and simply just stopped because they couldn't see. There were plenty of seats but people just weren't moving. Coach Parsons stated that they would open the doors to the ceremony 15 minutes earlier and also try to get someone to open the door to the other entrance. This should help immensely. Lights may be kept on a little longer, but not right up until the start of the ceremony to keep the ambiance of the event elevated.

11. It was requested to require that all regular season meets be completed by Monday of the Regional Week. I don't have any notes specific to this. I don't think any action was taken.

12. It was requested to require Coaches/Schools to ensure that ALL of their meets are on Athletic.net so that the 5 meet requirement can be verified. It was generally agreed that this was a good idea. I think it will be heavily suggested but not necessarily required.

13. It was requested to re-instate the 5 meet requirement for Individuals. This was rejected.

14. It was requested that the exact length of every meet should be recorded. Do not just call a meet 5,000 Meters if it is only a 2.9 mile course, etc. The concern was incorrect rankings based on time on Athletic.net with runners going to short courses being unfairly ranked higher than they should be. It was requested that the WVSSAC provided guidelines on posting the actual length of a course and proper measurement techniques. It was determined that for Regional and State Meets, it would be stated that actual wheeled measurements SHOULD take place, and that markings SHOULD be made at either every half-mile or every kilometer.

15. It was requested that there be a more active coordination between the WVSSAC, the coaches, and the WV USATF and AAU programs, noting that these programs can be strong tools for growing the sport. It was agreed that these are beneficial programs, particularly for the elementary school age group. It was noted, however, that finding anyone to head these programs has proven difficult.

16. The State Meet Schedule will be adjusted slightly to allow a little more time between Classificiations. The new schedule will be as follows:
Classification 1 - 9:00 Girls, 9:45 Boys, 10:30 Doors Open
Classification 2 - 11:15 Girls, 12:00 Boys, 12:45 Doors Open
Classification 3 - 1:30 Girls, 2:15 Boys, 3:00 Doors Open
Classification 4 - 3:45 Girls, 4:30 Boys, 5:15 Doors Open
This adds 15 minutes of time between each division but does not dramatically extend the duration of the meet.

17. Regional hosts for the upcoming season were selected. They are as follows:
Class AAAA North and Class AAA Region 1 and 2 (or North) - Grafton
Class AAAA South and Class AAA Region 3 and 4 (or South) - St. Albans
Class A and AA Region I - Williamstown
Class A and AA Region II - Frankfort
Class A and AA Region III - Westside
Class A and AA Region IV - Charleston Catholic

Class AAA will move to a North/South Region format like Class AAAA.

It was clarified that teams that qualify 5 individuals will score as a team and will line up in a single box.

State Meet plaques will indicate the place of the athlete, rather than just "Top Ten."

Doors will open to the awards ceremony 15 minutes earlier, and two entrances will be used.

Regional and State Meets SHOULD be wheeled for accurate distance and marked every half-mile and/or kilometer.

It will be heavily suggested that all meets a school participates in should be added to Athletic.net.

Regional Locations

Revised State Meet Schedule

Changing Class AAAA back to 5 exclusive from 10.

Advancing 4th place teams to fill open team spots.

Requiring all meets to be completed by Monday of the Regional meet.

Coordinating WVSSAC, Coaches, and USATF/AAU

Removing or lowering the 5 Meet requirement for Teams

Using competitive/participation balance in aligning Regions (not necessarily rejected, but unlikely)

Requiring ALL meets to be wheeled for exact distances.