The NCAA qualifying landscape has taken a radical change for outdoor track and field in 2010. Below, Tom Lewis of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association tries to educate sports information directors about the changes in how athletes qualify for the national meet.
A sportswriter tells me he's heard from a good NCAA track source that this system will be revamped after the season. But this spring, you won't hear about provisional and automatic NCAA qualifiers, and the national championships will be very different than in past years. Turning to Tom Lewis:
Hello All,
While we’re recovering from the indoor season, this is probably a good time to go over what’s going to happen during the outdoor season. I’ve had several questions about this and I figured this would be a good time to fill every one in on the latest news at once.
First, everything you remember from the four-region system from the past seven years has changed. This year, the championships will have a totally different format and instead of a hard-line performance standard to qualify, we will have an absolute, field-size cut-off per event, meaning that season-best rank within the “region” will overshadow the mark itself.
Regional standards to qualify does not exist for this season, and, instead of having four regions, we will have two “preliminary sites” for the national championship. The national championship will technically begin at Austin and Greensboro and will essentially be the start of one continuous meet, held in three locations over two separate weekends and concluding in Eugene.
The season will be a constant “scoreboard watch” as the top 48 per “region” – that declare – in each individual event and the top 24 relays per region, that declare, will compete at the preliminary sites. The caveat to this rule would be for the combined events. The top 24 OVERALL that declare for the heptathlon/decathlon will contest their event at the national-final site in Eugene.
Some events, like the sprints and up to the 1500m will have four rounds as part of the national championship: two contested at the preliminary sites and two at the finals site. Some events contest one round at the prelim site, and two at the finals site. The 5000 and 10,000 will have a national semifinal at the preliminary sites and the national final in Eugene. Every round will have a “national” component to its title since this is essentially one big meet. For example, we’ll contest the 100-meter national first round and national quarterfinal, not a regional final, at the preliminary sites.
The meet can be pretty cut throat as advancement through the rounds relies more on placing than time which will lead to some interesting races. In addition, the “safety net” that used to apply the regional rounds of protecting those at the top of the descending-order lists no longer exists. Again, advancement through the rounds will be determined on the round in question and not on prior performance during the season.
Without any hard-line standards or solid ground to stand, it will be interesting to see how everyone describes in-season meets. Before, there were headlines like “Lobos with 11 Regional Qualifiers at Kentucky” or “Davis Runs to NCAA Qualification, Tops Auto Mark” … Now, it seems you may have to be more creative without really saying anything, “Wheating, Morris Highlight Great Danes’ Day in Arkansas” … “Clayton Claims Collegiate-Leading Mark” … “Morrison Among Nation’s Elite After Saturday’s Bomb” (now in nation’s top 20, etc.).
Thanks,
Tom
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Tom Lewis
U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association
Communications Manager
1100 Poydras St., Suite 1750
New Orleans, LA 70163
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