The Regional Experiment has failed

And the East already had a "regional" meet for the majority of athletes that weren't going to make it all the way to NCAAs. It is called ECAC/IC4As.

another wrote:

And the East already had a "regional" meet for the majority of athletes that weren't going to make it all the way to NCAAs. It is called ECAC/IC4As.

not saying I agree with the regionals system the way it is now, but the IC4A is not for everyone in the east. It's only schools which take part in it, and are genearlly in the northeast (only as far down as DC and VA). The East region goes down to FL.

That argument doesnt hold much water. Actually having regionals means a larger pool of less talented athletes now chase marks. People chase marks regardless of what system is required to make it to nationals. Its track and field, its a race against your personal best, it inherently means you have to chase that mark.

Take a look at how much the times have improved since implementing the regional system. I remember the old standard for the 5k was like 14:26, and I think it's 14:12 now. The regional system allowed the other athletes to be more competitive and as a result times have dropped. This is a success as far as times getting dropped.

Now, for that one poster who said the West is weak is taking crazy pills. The West is the strongest region overall.

They should make the qualifying marks different for each region to get approximatley the same number of athletes in each region. I think the super regional system next year will fix some of these "inequalities". I like the regional system because for a lot of the "sub- elite" it gives them a goal past conferences. Its only been good for the long term progress of the sport.

Yes, but the key is that just getting the time isn't the only way into nationals--you have to compete as well. It makes sense to me that the way you get into nationals is winning a race in May, rather than running a time trial in March. Which is not to say that the regions are evenly drawn, just that the regional system helps to reintroduce competition to what had become a time-trial qualifying system

The west isn't weak, it is small. Getting to NCAAs from the West is a completely different ball game than in the east.

A national caliber 200 female in the west doesn't have to run rounds AT ALL to make it. and if she is high enough up the national list, she knows she is ALREADY IN the at large pool just by crossing the finish line.

She can train right through the regional meet and have an almost free pass to the NCAAs.

In other regions, you will need to make a serious effort to get out of the prelims. Not only is the racing demand very different, but the need/way to prepare for the meet is incredibly different. and likely unfair.

The best in the west are as good or better than the best in each other region. But the meets aren't remotely the same and that is a problem.

The coaches and coaches associations have had their chance to make changes, but everyone has been too stubborn to compromise.

If you know you can get 5 or so athletes to regionals each year, but almost never advance anyone to NCAAs, then you likely don't want to see regionals go. Regionals is your nationals. That is a very large population of schools.

If you have kids who are potential NCAA scorers, and your team sends many kids yearly to the NCAA meet, then regionals is just a thorn in your side before arriving at the big dance.

Regionals arrived as a back room political deal, and it will likely exit that way as well. The econonmy will be the scapegoat. And the big schools don't care why it is gone, only that it is gone.

I must be missing something, but why wouldn't this work? Have an auto time, whereby anyone meeting that time is in the Nationals. The Regionals, however they are divided, are for everyone else who met a Regional qualifying time, either indoors or outdoors. From each region a certain number advance to the Nationals. We could add the qualification that the numbers might vary from Region to Region. For example, if in one Region only five men have run under 14 for 5000, and in another Region ten have, then the NCAA would have the discretion of specifying in advance that only the top three move on to Nationals from the first Region, and five or six move on from the second, etc.

Why not just have the top 16 in each event in each region qualify for the regional meet. That way, each region will have exactly the same number of qualifiers and competitors.

because there aren't 16 competitors in most events in the west

I don't think it has to be either regionals or marks that get you to the NCAA championships.

What if there was a selection committee that looked at seasonal records to pick the nationals qualifiers? It works just fine for team sports.

Discuss.