Members Present: Lou Fraulo (Clifton High School), Carl Rickershauser (State Rules Interpreter), Wayne Gardiner (Delbarton), A

Members Present: Lou Fraulo (Clifton High School), Carl Rickershauser (State Rules Interpreter), Wayne Gardiner (Delbarton), Al Naimo, (Bergen Catholic), Mary Sok (Watchung Hills), Brian Wilkinson (Toms River), and Don Danser (NJSIAA Staff.

First let the record show that the programs went better than expected at two venues, one of which was not even in existence when the programs were developed. The committee wishes to thank all those involved with the meets: the Officials, the Site Workers, the Coaches, Athletes, and Spectators for their cooperation and understanding throughout this post-Princeton adjustment. The feedback has been tremendously positive for both sites. None of this would have been possible without the cooperation and hard work of everyone involved.

1. Correspondence

A. Rick Steeg in an e-mail dated 12/11/06 wanted to know why the NJSIAA didn’t work a little harder in finding a suitable replacement for Princeton. Why didn’t we have a pole vault relay in the Relay Meet.

Response: 1. What other facilities exist in the state that we overlooked? 2. Princeton decided that there was no room on the schedule to accommodate our meets. They were not open to negotiations. 3. The facility at Jersey City could not accommodate the event this year, and, as it turned out, if the relays had been scheduled for Toms River, the entire program may have had to be cancelled for the year.

B. William Eisenring of USAFTNJ in an e-mail dated 12/20/07 wanted to if the NJSIAA would b interested in using the old Madison Square Garden 160-yard track.

Response: The committee thought that would be a step backwards, especially now that there are many existing 200 meter tracks available.

C. Al-Tariq A. Dunson, in a letter dated 12/29/06, commented on our indoor venue problem. “I believe that if we petition the state Athletic Commission with enough registered voters we could have a shot at holding the State Championship at the Meadowlands. …the Newark Municipal Council [should offer] the opportunity to host an indoor athletic facility to be used by the entire state [referring to the new arena being built in Newark].

Response: Both interesting ideas, and hope people will continue to strive for their accomplishments. Again, though, the committee and more than likely the track community, would rather pursue 200 meter track facilities. Continental Airlines Arena could not accommodate a 200 meter track, and more than likely, neither will the Newark facility be able to do so.

D. Hugh McDermott, in an e-mail dated January 15, 2007, complained about the complete lack of wheelchair and disabled access to the Jersey City Armory on January 13, 2007.

Response: His complaint was legitimate and the problem should not have happened. In meetings with Jersey City officials before the events, this area was discussed. There is a street level entrance on Montgomery Street that was supposed to be open. It wasn’t on the 13^th, but because of this gentleman’s drawing our attention to it, it was for the 14^th and 15^th.

E. Tom McCafferty, in an e-mail dated January 17, 2007, complained that some girls were competing in the high jump wearing 1/4 inch pyramid spikes, when the instructions stated spikes were to be 1/8”.

Response: Coaches concern has grounds. Jersey City was vague on meet day what was permissible and what was not. The spike issue will be addressed later in the meeting.

F. Chris Threston, in an e-mail dated February 26, 2007, had several proposals:

1. Could the distance medley lead off the relay order of events instead of the shuttle hurdles?

2. The seeding lists for both meets should include the where and when so coaches can check them.

3. Could coaching boxes for the High Jump an Shot Put be established at Jersey City?

4. There were too many schools in Group I. Could the Classification be revised so there are fewer schools in this group?

5. Could the 200 be put back in the Individual meet, along with the relays?

6. Is there really a need now to not allow distance runners to finish their races, now that time factor is not as pressing as it was in Princeton?

7. Combine the Meet of Champions into one meet.

Response: All of these items will be discussed later in the meeting.

G. John Pontes, in an e-mail, dated February 26, 2007, wanted to know why his 800 runner was removed from the track just before the start of her race because a timer thought her spikes were illegal.

Response: This incident never should have taken place. Only the referee can stop an athlete from participating. The official should have brought this to the attention of the referee and not taken it about him/herself to remove the athlete. Unfortunately, the damage was done and there was nothing meet manage could do but apologize and try to remind all officials that the meet referee alone has this kind of authority. The problem of spikes will be discussed later.

H. Ellen Schack, a parent of a 55 meter hurdler in the Meet of Champions, in an e-mail wanted to know why her daughter did not make the finals in that event, when she clearly ran a trial time better than three of the girls who were selected as finalists.

Response: This came about because of a clerking error. In the Group Meet, where seeding in the 55m and 55m HH, is based on times that are so close with 60 to 70 contestants in each event [which calls for many heats], the formula for advancing from trials to finals the eight fastest runners advance. This requires by rule that all of the best seeds are in the same (usually last) heat. However, in the Meet of Champions, where there will be a maximum of five heats, and where the seed times are drawn from the Group Meet, this formula would likely result in what most would call a duplicate final. Therefore, the formula for advancing is the winners followed by the next fastest times to qualify the 8 finalists. This requires that the contestants be placed in heats using the “serpentine” method (i.e. the best seed in Heat 1, the 2^nd best in Heat 2, etc). Unfortunately, the clerks did not do this. They clerked both events as they had done in the Group Meets. The 55m, fortunately, had the 8 fastest qualify into the final and the error went unnoticed. That was not the case with the 55m HH. The winners of heat 1, 2 were significantly slower than the fifth finisher in heat 4 and another finisher in heat 3. This error was not noticed until after the 800m had bee run. The referee made an attempt to contact the coaches involved, but they had already gone for the day. Again, an unfortunate event that should not have happened.

2. Seeding

Keeping in mind that many of the rules written for this year were written for Princeton and revised for unseen or never-before-used facilities, problems were going to occur. A small typo in the regulations added to the confusion about seeding. That being said, the committee adopted the following seeding procedures for both the relays and individual meets next year:

a. All seeds must be from the current season. (Last season times are not acceptable.)

b. No outdoor seeds or relay splits will be accepted.

c. Seeds must have been done on 200m (or less) tracks at the correct distances. No converted times (example: a converted 1,500 meter time is not acceptable for the 1,600 meters)

d. The 55m dash, 55m HH, and 400m dash must be F.A.T. only. No hand times for these events will be accepted. Hand times for 800m and up will be accepted and converted to F.A. T.

e. Only the top twelve times will be posted. When Lou Fraulo receives a time faster than those listed, he will remove the slowest time so that only the top 12 will show. These top 12 times will contain the meet where and date when the performance was made.

3. Spikes

Spikes will be checked at both facilities using the method the New York Armory employs. All shoes will be inspected at a “spikes table” and tagged. Athletes found to be using spiked shoes not properly tagged will be fined $150.00, payable to the facility for the damage done by spikes that are too long and/or not the correct style (pyramid spikes only).

4. Starting Heights in the High Jump and Pole Vault

The committee says many coaches don’t like not knowing the starting heights for these events in the group meets. The standards are very low and leave the impression that the starting heights will be also. Therefore the starting heights will be established next year based on the performances of this year:

2008 Starting Heights:

Group	I	II	III	IV
Boys HJ	5’6”	5’8”	5’10”	5’10”
Boys PV	10’0”	10”0”	10’6”	11’0
Girls HJ	4’6”	4’8”	4’8”	4’10”
Girls PV	7’6”	8’0”	8’6”	8’6”

The starting heights for the Relays will remain the same.

5. Meet format changes.

The committee discussed the possibilities of changing the winter program to the same format used outdoors, namely, a sectional, followed by a group meet, and then the Meet of Champions.

The committee also discussed establishing separate non-public A and B sections, as is done in the outdoors. These suggestions were made because of the growing numbers of schools participating in the programs (see Mr. Threston’s 4^th proposal above.) If these format changes were accepted, they would carry with them the same basic entry rules now used outdoors, i.e. no standards and three entries per event. These changes would have to be approved by the NJSIAA Program Review Committee, whose approval would then require the approval of the entire NJSIAA Executive Committee. Before proceeding to these committees, the schools presently offering winter track would be polled to see how they would feel about this format change. These changes are not going to be proposed for 2008, but for 2009. A detailed survey will be drawn up to ascertain whether or not these changes should be pursued by the Winter Track Committee.

6. 2008 Format

The committee is making the assumption that the Jersey City Armory the Toms River Indoor Sports Complex will be available for corresponding dates as last year. Jersey City has promised that the basketball court will be available for setting up a portable pole vault system because the court will be covered with a “hard” covering. If this is the case, the coaches boxes for high jump and shot can also be added because of the freed-up real estate that was not available for use last year.

1. Relays – Site Jersey City Armory (only if the above prove out)

Dates and times: Friday, January 11, 2008 - 4:00 p.m. Group I Boys and Girls

Saturday, January 12, 2008 - 9:00 a.m. Group IV Girls

12:30 p.m. Group II Boys

4:30 p.m. Group III Girls

Sunday, January 13, 2008 9:00 a.m. Group IV Boys

12:30 p.m. Group II Girls

4:30 p.m. Group III Boys

Almost all of the feed back was to keep the separate meets and to keep the sites if the Jersey City site could deliver the improvements asked for. Group I was kept together because they have the largest number of programs with a single coach.

Order of Events: 1. Distance Medley

2. Shuttle Hurdles

3. 4x200m

4. 4x800m

5. Sprint Medley

6. 4x400

Shot Put (Boys followed by Girls in Group I)

High Jump (Starting Heights 5’0” for boys, 4’0” for girls with next height being raised 4” – boys starting first in Group I)

Pole Vault (Starting Heights: 9’0” for boys, 7’0” for girls with the next height being raised 12” – girls starting first in Group I)

Spikes: 1/8” pyramids – Checked and tagged at the door.

2. Group Meets – Site: John Bennett Indoor Sports Complex, Toms River, NJ

Dates and times: Friday, February 15, 2008 - 4:00 p.m. Group I Boys and Girls

Saturday, February 16, 2008 - 9:00 a.m. Group IV Girls

1:00 p.m. Group II Boys

5:00 p.m. Group III Girls

Sunday, February 17, 2008 9:00 a.m. Group IV Boys

1:00 p.m. Group II Girls

5:00 p.m. Group III Boys

Committee felt that the time structure for the relays would work well for the Group Meets.

Order of Events: Group I 1. 1600 meter Run - Boys

1600 meter Run - Girls

2. 55 meter Dash Trials – Boys

55 meter Dash Trials – Girls

3. 55 meter High Hurdles Trials – Boys

55 meter High Hurdles Trials - Girls

4. 800 Meter Run – Boys

800 Meter Run – Girls

5. 55 meter Dash Finals – Boys

55 meter Dash Finals – Girls

6. 55 meter High Hurdles Final – Boys

55 meter High Hurdles Final – Girls

7. 400 meter Dash – Boys

400 meter Dash – Girls

8. 3200 meter Run – Boys

3200 meter Run – Girls

9. 4x400 meter Relay – Boys

10. 4x400 meter Relay – Girls

Shot – Boys followed by Girls

High Jump Boys Followed by Girls

Pole Vault – Girls followed by Boys

Groups II, III and IV 1. 1600 meter Run

2. 55 meter Dash Trials

3. 55 meter High Hurdle Trials

4. 800 meter Run

5. 55 meter Dash Final

6. 55 meter High Hurdles Final

7. 400 meter Dash

8. 3200 meter Run

9. 4x400 meter Relay

Toms River Intermediate East will not be used for shot. Gym and hallways available for warm-ups

Starting Blocks supplied by Toms River will be available in the finals of 55 meter Dash, 55 meter Hurdles, 400 meters, and the 4x400 meter Relay.

FOR ALL MEETS: Please note that the running events and field events scheduled to start first will be closed 20 minutes prior to the scheduled starting time for that meet.

EXAMPLE: Group I Meet the Boys 1600, the Boys Shot, Boys High Jump and the Girls Pole Vault will be closed at 3:40 p.m. so that these events will start promptly at the meet starting time of 4:00 pm.

3. Meet of Champions – John Bennett Indoor Sports Complex, Toms River, NJ

Date of Meet: Saturday, February 23, 2008 10:00 a.m. Boys and Girls

Order of Events: 1. 1600 meter Run - Boys