07/18/17 – Cross Country and Track & Field Alignment Approved

July 18, 2017

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At its regular meeting on July 15, the KHSAA Board of Control gave final approval to the alignment of teams for the 2017-2018 through 2020-2021 period for both Cross Country and Track & Field. The alignment will go into effect immediately, starting with the 2017 fall Cross Country and 2018 spring Track and Field seasons.

The distributed draft received feedback from the membership over the last two months. Following a review of the suggestions from that feedback, the Board approved a change recommended by the Commissioner to revise the qualifying for State Cross Country which will likely result in a few additional teams being added to the state field.

“In several cases, school feedback favored the movement of teams away from optimal geographic locations solely to ensure a particular region didn’t have its number of state qualifying teams reduced. Rather than see team travel increased solely for state qualifying, the Board approved a recommendation to change the state qualifying and therefore minimize the need for non-geographic moves,” said KHSAA Commissioner Julian Tackett. “In addition, the Board moved three schools from their original draft position to a different regional location, which places those schools in the same regional as most of their other sports, a pattern the Board has chosen to honor for the last several years. Several other requested changes were considered but no other requested moves were approved. 

“The realignment process is never a simple task but the Board was true to its recent pattern of trying to put schools into alignments that mirror their placement in most sports (guided by the basketball alignment). That consistency makes the task less arbitrary and more systematic, and therefore, more universally supported.”

The revised state qualifying process for Cross Country will be:

• 1 full team with all entrants meeting the four meet minimum that enters the regional meet, 1 team advances;
• 2 or 3 full teams with all entrants meeting the four meet minimum that enter the regional meet, 2 teams advance;
• 4 to 5 full teams with all entrants meeting the four meet minimum that enter the regional meet, 3 teams advance;
• 6 to 7 full teams with all entrants meeting the four meet minimum that enter the regional meet, 4 teams advance;
• 8 to 10 full teams with all entrants meeting the four meet minimum that enter the regional meet, 5 teams advance;
• 11 or more full teams with all entrants meeting the four meet minimum that enter the regional meet, 6 teams advance;
• After the qualifying teams are determined, the top 5 individuals not on qualifying teams will advance to the State Meet as “Individual Qualifiers”; and
• Only those who have met the four meet minimum, and those that enter a valid team, will count towards the number of teams entered.

The complete alignment release is listed at http://khsaa.org/071717-approved-cross-country-and-track-field-alignment-2017-2018-to-2020-21/. 

Inquiries are always welcome through Assistant Commissioner Sarah Bridenbaugh, the day to day contact for Cross Country and Track & Field, or through the Commissioner’s office. 

 

 

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