Following the article are emails submitted by anyone wanting comment on the situation. If you wish to have your comment posted, please state so in your email. We will not post your comments without your permission.
In a move that surprised many in attendance at the West Virginia State High School Track Meet Saturday, both divisions of the AAA pole vault were cancelled. Individual vaulters, including both defending champions, were denied a chance at claiming a championship. In addition, Parkersburg needed only to claim first and third in the event to wrest the state title away from Capital. That may sound like a tall order, but their vaulters had been picked to place first and fourth.
RunWV would like first of all to point out that we support the postponement of the pole vaulting event. The key word here being "postponement", not cancellation. The conditions at the time were indeed unsafe for an event that regularly sees competitors rise more than one story off the ground. Our criticism of the decison should not be in any way interpreted to mean that we thought the athletes should be jumping in the rain or on a surface that had water several inches deep.
The decison (made by the games committee) was announced over the loudspeakers with several events remaining in the meet. At least one of the coaches who had vaulters in the meet approached a member of the games committee and asked to appeal the decision to cancel the event. He was told that the decision could not be appealed. Despite several loud protests, the meet finished, the award ceremonies went on, and everyone went home. One member of the games committe was heard telling unhappy coaches and parents of the some of the jilted vaulters that if they didn't like it, they could hold the state meet elsewhere. Additionally, members of the Parkersburg contingent were reportedly told that they weren't close enough for one event to make a difference in the title chase anyway.
Note that this information is not heresay. All of it was either witnessed by RunWV or came from a respectable source. Not having a tape recorder handy (shouldn't have needed one) or a piece of paper that had not been reduced to mush by the rain, we are unable to give exact quotes but the tone of much of what we heard from the committee members was much stronger and more harsh than reported here.
Several solutions were offered by concerned coaches and fans. Here is a
short, but not exhaustive, list of ideas that were rebuffed by the committee.
1. Continue to wait out the rainy conditions at Laidley Field and don't
call the event until there was no hope of getting the jumps in.
2. Postpone the event until a future date that was agreeable to the
majority of jumpers.
3. Move the event indoors to the closest facility that had the equipment
needed for vaulting.
Here is RunWV's position on the situation.
1. The event should not have been called while there was still any hope of getting the jumps in. Laidley field is equipped with lights, and efforts should have been made to clear the surface of as much water as possible. The runway and plant pit could have been covered with plastic to keep the surface as dry as possible. The amount of staff that would have needed to stay to complete the event would have been minimal. An official, a trainer or two and medical personnel would have been sufficient. The huge contingent of officials that were needed to time and monitor events could have been permitted to go home. Official scores could have been tabulated easily. There was at least one official present willing to stay as long as needed, and the trainers of involved teams were also more than willing to stay. Medical personnel are also usually perfectly willing willing to help out. The logistical problems could have been dealt with (including what to do with the rest of jumpers teammates). Most of the jumpers had parents and other relatives in the stands that would have been glad to wait while the rest of the team began the bus ride home. The AA-A Boys pole vault of the previous night was evidence to this as the event did not conclude until approximately 10:30 P.M.
2. Postponing the event to another day would have caused some logistical problems to jumpers involved, but any that were asked by RunWV were more than willing to come back to do the jumps. The disbelief on one jumpers face was evident when he asked his coach "They just cancelled it? Can they do that?". Nearly all the jumpers were within a 3-4 hour drive of the event (with the likely exception of the Eastern Panhandle vaulters) and most were within a two hour drive (probably around 2/3 of the jumpers). Parents have proved time and time again that they are willing to go to the ends of the Earth (much less drive a few hours for a state championship event) to watch their kids participate in a wide variety of activities. As explained above, the amount of staff needed to complete such an event would have been minimal. If the event were to be held at some point on the next day or the following day (or even toward the middle of the next week if objections were raised to Sunday and Memorial day), it would have been more fair than cancellation, even if a few of the athletes could not have attended. If the event staff was concerned with not being able to award the trophies that day at the "end" of the meet, they needn't have worried. The AA-A events were finished and could have been awarded as could have been the high point trophies in all divisions (no athlete could have scored enough points to surpass the high point winner). In addition, the Cabell Midland boys had no qualifying vaulters, and no one else could have scored enough points to overtake the Capital boys. The only trophy in question was the AAA girls title. Precedent had been set for holding an event on a day following an important meet at the Region III meet in Winfield when the pole vault was completed on the day following the conclusion of all the other events. Why would this not also be acceptable for the state meet?
3. It had been known for several days that inclement weather was expected for the Saturday portion of the meet. Had a little foresight been applied to what reasonably could have been expected, contingency plans could have and should have been made to hold the event indoors. The state tennis tournament has done this in the past, so such planning is not outside of what is done for other events. Some suggested that the University of Charleston may have such facilities and if so, would have been an excellent place to hold the event. (RunWV was unable to confirm this fact). RunWV realizes that there are a limited number of indoor facilities in the state and if none were within an hour drive (Marshall University was another suggestion) then this might not have worked.
Regardless, more effort could have been put into keeping the surface of the runway and pit dry. A roll of plastic doesn't cost that much and might have went a long way to helping move the event along during the periods in which rain was not falling. Although RunWV does not know what the weather was like in the immediate Charleston area between 6:30 and midnight, the area around Ripley was clear and the roads were nearly dry by 7:00 P.M. If the events could not have been completed that day, they could have been completed another.
RunWV has no personal interest in these events being completed. We have no relatives, friends or even hometown schools participating. Our only interest is for the teams and especially the athletes involved in these two events. Regarding the teams, Parkersburg had a very legimate chance at scoring enough points in this event (first place and a tie for third would have done it) to overtake Capital for the team championship. Mary Beth Held had been unbeaten all year and Angela Wallace had been the most consistent of those jumpers that had not yet cleared 10' but had been jumping very well. It is not unheard of for athletes to improve previous jumps by a foot or more (such as Doddridge's Nicole White who went from a 7'6 jump prior to regionals to hitting 9'0 in both regionals and state meet), nor is it uncommon for an athlete to miss his or her personal best by a foot or more and fail to place. Parkersburg should have been given the chance to nail the event and make up ground. The individual stories are even more diverse. Two jumpers were back to defend their state championships (Justin Southall and Darcy Thompson - both at or near the top of their field). Another vaulter (Mary Beth Held) had cleared heights beyond that of any other girl in the history of the state and was anxious to reclaim her title from her sophomore year. No matter who ended up winning the event, the AAA girls record was a cinch to fall as three competitors in the event had sailed at least a foot higher than the existing record. Among the most upset were the seniors who had gone to the state meet to compete in what for many would be their only event and for some their last chance to pick up some hardware at the biggest track event of all. Nearly half the field were seniors and they have been denied the chance to compete. Many of those jumpers had at least an outside shot at placing and even those that did not had also worked hard to earn the chance to compete at the state meet. For some, it was their only chance. One event, one year. For them, it will never get to happen and they will never have gotten to experience the thrill of competing at the state meet. The following is a listed of athletes who were scheduled to compete along with their Regional and Season Best Marks and what Region they represented.
AAA Boys Pole Vault Justin Southall Ripley 12 14'0 14'0 3 Brian Albaugh Wheeling Park 12 13'6 14'0 1 Josh Brookover Parkersburg 12 12'6 14'0 1 Sam Pierson Capital 12'6 12'6 4 Ryan Rader Parkersburg 10 12'0 13'0 1 Scott Whoolery Roane 11 12'0 12'0 3 Chris Creamer Nitro 12 11'6 13'0 3 James Shetler Hedgesville 12 11'6 13'0 2 Jamael Hall Huntington 11'6 12'6 3 Lee Cummings Roane 12 11'6 12'0 3 Jason Hollen Hedgesville 11'6 11'6 2 Kirk McNemar Buck-Upshur 11'6 11'6 2 Stephen Patton University 11'0 12'6 1 Dustin Bowers Hedgesville 11'0 11'0 2 Tyler Eldridge Capital 10'6 11'0 4 AAA Girls Pole Vault Mary Beth Held Parkersburg 12 10'6 10'6 1 Ashley Dunn Park. South 10 10'0 10'0 1 Darcy Thompson Fairmont Senior 11 10'0 10'0 1 Angela Wallace Parkersburg 12 9'0 9'0 1 Kristin Hustead Wheeling Park 8'6 8'6 1 Stephanie Shaffer Wheeling Park 8'6 8'6 1 Salina Coleman Park. South 12 8'6 8'6 1 Megan Patton University 8'0 9'0 1 Lindsay Stewart Hampshire 11 8'0 8'5 2 Amber Hammell Parkersburg 10 8'0 8'0 1 Rachel Foose Wheeling Park 8'0 8'0 1 Samantha Bennett Buck-Upshur 8'0 8'0 2 Sarah Baker St. Albans 8'0 8'0 3 Jessica Kincell East Fairmont 12 7'6 8'0 1 LeeAnn Ingles Park. South 10 7'6 7'6 1 Britney Amodio Robert C. Byrd 9 7'6 7'6 2 Bethany Bjorkman Preston 7'6 7'6 2 Charlotte Mobley Hurricane 11 7'6 7'6 3 Erin Fulmer St. Albans 11 7'0 7'6 3 Michelle Cook Hurricane 6'6 6'6 3 Alexis Lilly Capital 6'0 6'0 4
It is not our intention to take anything away from the Capital girls team. They performed well and may well have taken the championship in the end, but the key word is "may." Though certainly no fault of the Capital team, their championship title will carry an asterisk in the minds of many who attended the 2000 State Track Meet. Unfortunately, the outcome will never be known, and since it is just as likely that Capital or Parkersburg would have been the eventual winners, RunWV will recognize them as Co-Champions for the 2000 meet.
If any member of the games committee would like to post a response on our web site, we will be glad to oblige. Additionally, we will post any comments by coaches, parents or fans as long as the language is clean.
I am highly upset and disappointed about the cancellation of Pole Vault. It
is absolutely unbelievable to me that an event can be canceled. My athlete
has worked too hard and has invested too much of money in camps and training
for this event for it to be flat out canceled. I along with the many others
want it rescheduled. It is an injustice to the sport and the athletes for it
not to be.
Sincerely,
Fairmont Senior High School
Girl's Track Coach
Erin Downs
We have a son and daughter that qualified both for the first time to go to the State track meet in Charleston, WV. You can imagine their disappointment when the pole vaulting was canceled and not postponed as one would naturally assumed would happen. After all would they cancel a state tennis match if all had competed but the number one ranked players?
As an adult I realize that life is not always fair but it seems like a
complete injustice to cancel this event. You can imagine the insult this is
to these athletes to receive this snub from the WVSSAC as to the seeming
insignificance of the pole vault. I can't imagine any other sport not
receiving the respect of rescheduling the event.
Sincerely,
Mark and Debbie Patton
University High School parents
Weather happens every day. Poor weather happens frequently. For track and field, weather is a critical success factor, in both setting records, as well as, just being able to compete.
The officials at the state meet still have time to right an obvious wrong (poor judgment) in cancellation of the pole vault. For many wrong decisions, nothing can ever be reversed. However, the youth can, in this emotional situation, learn a valuable lesson from these adults, in that they can still "right the wrong".
The officials need only admitt that rescheduling and not cancellation is the best and proper decision. Reschedule this event in the week ahead and show the youth the importance of commitment and creativity.
For me, I have no pole vaulters competing this year, but agonize and empathize for the contestants, parents, and friends of these vaulters!
My only "personal" experience of poor judgment by the officials this year was in allowing the Kanawha Valley award ceremonies to be held during the meet, especially while the girls AA-A 4x100 relay team stood in the pouring rain, approximately 15 minutes "after" they reported on to the track. The rain subsided alittle during the ceremonies, and then poured as the 4x100 began! Most track fans around me, as evidenced by the loud comments, agreed this was poor judgement. Not only should these ceremonies have been delayed to the end of this meet, but officials should consider doing these awards at the regional meet ... where they are more appropriate.
The officials need to "plan better" for these athletes. Running and jumping in the rain is difficult enough, without the added dimension of poor planning.
The vaulters still can have their day ... it's not too late Mr. Official ... Show you are worthy of your title "official" and make the "right" call!
I thank RUNWV for their courage and tactfulness to editorialize on this subject.
By the way ... everything else was, as usual ... a great track meet for WV!
Denny Paul
What I witnessed with the cancellation of the Girl's and Boy's pole vault was nothing short of a travesty. In 32 years of track experience, from junior high to the Olympic Trials, I have never witnessed anything as outrageously absurd as concluding a meet without all the events being run. I agree that the pole vault should have been postponed-conditions at the time of the "postponement" warranted such until the weather cleared. However, by cancelling the event and dashing the hopes of kids who had worked so hard for a chance to perform at the state's premier track event only showed that the games committee was in no way looking out for the best interest of the athletes(they always seem to be concerned with running the meet off as fast as possible without regard for the best interests of the athletes involved). This is just another glaring example of why some new blood needs to be infused into the games committee. It's apparent that most of those committee members know little or nothing about the sport. If they did, then they could have come up with an alternative plan to finish the pole vault at whatever the cost(if it meant staying til midnight to finish, so be it-the kids deserved that chance to compete). I think the WVSSAC should be held accountable, from top to bottom, regarding this incident. The head of the WVSSAC was on site and could have overruled the boneheaded decision made by his representatives. In all my years in the sport I have never seen so much ineptitude or indeciseveness on the part of a "governing body"(I use that term very loosely). Once again, the youth of West Virginia are the losers here.
Kim Nutter
I was told by someone from Parkersburg South that the state track meet was once postponed because of measles. The postponement was reportedly a week or two. I personally do not recall this and was wondering if there was some way to check this out. (Editor's Note - This situation did in fact occur in 1994 when the state meet was postponed until mid June after a school - believed to be John Marshall - had several of it's students come down with a case of the measles)
Personally, I feel very sorry for Mary Beth Held and the Big Red girls track team. Her chance for a state record was taken away by the weather and a "bad" decision. That, coupled with the fact that PHS had a real chance to win another Class AAA team title, makes the decision twice as bad. Even worse, I personally overheard a coach complaining to the Laidley Field director (LuAnn Lanham) during the Mountain State Athletic Conference meet that the pole vault facility needed to be fixed because of its poor condition during rain. He was saying very loudly that he had been told the facility was to have been fixed prior to the MSAC meet and this had not been done. If people knew the facility was not up to par that far in advance of the state meet then something should have been done since rain was expected. What about using a wet-vac to suck up the excess water? It just seems that nothing was done to prevent cancellation and that no thought was given to the athletes involved (let alone the team title race).
Carol Jett
I am writing to express my considerable anger at the canceling of the AAA pole vault event last saturday. There appears to be no logical reason for not rescheduling this event. The participents have worked extremely hard in a very challenging event to earn the right to compete. Many hours of work have now gone unrewarded. I would like the athletes to know that as parents and fans we are very proud of each one of them, and respect there effort even if the SSAC refuses to acknowledge them
Ron Whoolery
Raiders Athletic Club
Roane County High School
I am extremly disappointed in the decision to cancel the pole vault Saturday. I had two boys qualify in the pole vault alone. What is more upsetting is the fact that I tried to express my point of view to the the referee in the form of an appeal, but I was told the decision was not appealable. After sharing my concern of fairness to all the AAA pole vaulters, not just my own, I was told they believed their decision was fair, and that it was not safe to vault in the conditions. Yes, I agree the conditions were bad, but postpone it, like so many people wanted, don't cancel it. Or maybe you, games committee, can justify to all of us who don't understand your ruling exactly why we can not come back and vault this week; are so many people including myself missing some important information, please enlighten us, so we can explain it to our POLE VAULTERS!!! Forget about all the hassels of having to come back another day to finish and how much effort that would require, think about the athletes who have worked so hard for so long that will never get the chance to vault in the state meet. I'm not going to go on. The fair thing to do is clear. Change your decision and have the pole vault soon, it doesn't matter to me where, but it needs to be soon.
Robert Burnside
Roane County High School
I, like many others, was absolutely apalled at the decision of the games committee. What many of you may not realize, however, is where they were all from. Five of them were from Kanawha County, and the other two were from Lewis and Marshall Counties, respectively. Gee, let me think...isn't Capital in Kanawha County? And wasn't PHS close enough to upset them? Yeh, that's what I thought! Granted, Capital had a great team this year and had the meet been finished and they really were the champions then congratulations, but in the hearts of most they are only co-champs with PHS. Also, I think it's ridiculous that the parents and coaches of these children have invested in all kinds of camps, equipment and most of all time to help these athletes prepare. And for what? For them to go to the state meet to only find out that the pole vault was cancelled? I think not! I know that all these competitors and coaches have worked hard and have put in many hours practicing. And once again, I ask for what...ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!
Larry Allen
Editors Note - Although the games committee make up does apparently consist of members
from these counties, RunWV does not believe this played any part in the decision to cancel the
pole vault. The decision would have been made prior to knowledge of what the final score might
be (although Capital would likely have been ahead at this point of the meet). Since we have no
way at this time of knowing what all went into the decision to cancel the event, the fact that
the decision appears to favor "hometown" Capital will draw more than a few second glances. We
are attempting to get an official response from the WVSSAC/Games Committee or at least their side
of the story but have yet to receive an official response.
Let me first begin by stating that I personally do not know the rules regarding when a meet is/is not official. Furthermore, I do not know any of the members of the rules committee for this event. I am however well versed in running and sports in general and feel that common sense tells us that in few other sports would such an outcome be permitted. For example, lets say the lights would go out in a state championship basketball, football, volleyball, wrestling, game/match. Would they simply take the current score and declare a winner? I doubt that would be the case. In baseball, a game is complete after seven innings, but I'm not aware of such a rule in track.
Therefore, I believe the key is "thinking outside of the box" and going the "extra mile" in coming up with a fair resolution. In this case, the easy/convenient thing to do is cancel the pole vault. The creative, "outside of the box" thinking is to reschedule the event the following week. Would rescheduling be inconvenient? Yes. Would it be logistically difficult? Yes. Would it distract from the awards ceremony and celebration? Yes. Would it be the right thing to do? Yes.
As adults, and especially as adult leaders, we must think "outside of the box" and in too many cases educators and adults alike, settle for convenience rather than making the tough call and doing what is right.
Clearly, as a former PHS coach and Parkersburg resident I would like to see my alma mater have a chance to win the state meet. At the same time, it is not fair to have Capital accept the championship trophy with an asterisk by their names. As a competitor, I want my title free of any "if, and's, or but's" and it's not fair to have the champion having to defend their title in the court of public opinion. Some accept to win at all costs, but my conscience is more important than simply "winning." With one simple rescheduling of an event, Capital or PHS, could rest in peace and not have to explain why they placed where they did.
If the decision to cancel is justified by precedence and/or WV Track rules, then all must live with the decision. If on the other hand, this is unprecedented and a solution needs to be found, then the right thing to do is correct the mistake. True, after a few days/weeks the controversy talk will subside. But a leader with integrity would stand up, admit that their decision was not in the best interest of the teams, athletes, schools, and sport of track. They would then have the grit to withstand the criticism of reversing their decision and complete the meet. This is the tough decision and one I doubt we'll see, but I believe it would be the right thing to do. Unfortunately, doing what is right, isn't always easy or popular.
Sincerely,
George Angelos
Former PHS Men's & Women's Cross Country Coach
I had the priviledge to be the guest speaker at the Parkersburg High School girl's Track & Field banquet the Sunday evening following the state meet. I felt honored to spend an evening with such a mature, close-nit team of young champions. However, I couldn't help feeling the sadness and the sense of loss that the parents, boosters, school administration, and the the team felt due to the cancellation of the pole vaulting event.
I sat in the room with West Virginia's best pole vaulter, Mary Beth Held. She was very excited about her achievements and recognitions that she had earned throughout her senior season. Her teammates were proud to be a part of her success and showed such emotions that evening. But Mary Beth was denied the opportunity to achieve the one goal that she had dreamed and wished for all season, to regain her title as the AAA State Champion in the pole vault and the chance to hold a state record. We as coaches, athletes, spectators, and administrators pushed for the chance of West Virginia to compete in the womens pole vault. We want to compete with the other states across the nation to show that we can also teach young ladies the complex skills and safety precautions needed to perform such a physically challenged event. When it was our chance to shine in the spotlight, the light switch was turned off.
Now this opportunity goes for Angela and Amber also of Parkersburg. They too felt cheated the chance of contending for the state title or any personal best vaults, let alone the fact that Parkersburg had a legitimate shot of winning the team title. Because of the courage and leadership that Coach Gardner and her staff instilled in their young ladies, they are partially able to accept the fact that they must move on and learn from the experience. I'm sure the other competitors in the AAA pole vault (men/women) feel the same way. And they should !!!
There were a few young men and women whose only event for the state meet was the pole vault. They cheered for their teammates and watched through the downpouring rains only to wait for their chance to receive some recognition and praise from their cheering sections while they vaulted. The opportunity never came. It was taken away. I hope the SSAC and the coaches and pole vaulters can work together to find an afternoon to hold the event. And close the 2000 season on a good note.
I was on the John Marshall coaching staff the year the measles epidemic occured. We seemed to be the blame for the long extended season that went into June. But we managed to solve the measle problem and still participated in the state meet. Although delayed by a couple of weeks, the meet was still held. Let's do the same here and compete in the final event of the meet.
Like the ole' cliche goes "it's not over till the fat lady sings," well "the state meet isn't over till the crossbar has fallen"
Thanks, Parkersburg Girl's Track Team for the wonderful evening.
Stu Rynkievich, West Liberty State College
Head Cross Country Coach
Assistant Track & Field Coach