Timing question at HS track meets

This is a pretty worthy thread.

I have helped with timing before and was told to time by place.

You have to do this in longer races anyway or else you have to assign a timer to follow a person for each race.

Hand timing is crazy. Good thing Bannister was .6 seconds under 4. Enough over margin of error to be a legit sub 4.

David Katz wrote:

Place

=highest ranking american official says place

thread over

seriously by lane... where exactly is the lane 3 start for the 5,000 and the gal in lane 8 runs how many laps?

Honestly, if you have been around track and know anything at all about track it's place.

The only time this question should be asked is by someone new to the sport. Then, you quickly learn why you time by place.

Please end of discussion.

Time by place.

For those still claiming time LANE, consider this...

If you are timing by lane, you are assuming that eight people standing 100m from the starting line can independently and simultaneously start a stop watch at the same exact moment in time.

It's not going to happen.

Histh wrote:

Time by place.

For those still claiming time LANE, consider this...

If you are timing by lane, you are assuming that eight people standing 100m from the starting line can independently and simultaneously start a stop watch at the same exact moment in time.

It's not going to happen.

I understand the timing by place is the legal and best way but it can also produce errors in times. Especially when you are usning volunteer parents to do the timing at a HS meet. Like I said earlier, I have been doing this and we usually have 3 or 4 timers. We only worry about getting the first 3 finisher's times. We each take a place and then are responsible for timing that finisher. We still compare times after the race to make sure the third place was slower than second and second slower than first. It doesn't always work out that way and we have to fudge the times. Place is always clear cut.

This is not much of an issue for distance races, mainly just the sprints.

Hand timing overall is error prone. Anytime humans are involved there are going to be mistakes.

Time by place.

One thing that makes this easier: standing far enough away from the finish line. You should be a minimum of five meters away from (i.e. to the side of) the finish.

"Gun is up!" Have your forefinger (not thumb--forefinger responds quicker) resting lightly on the "start" button of your watch, and be focused on the muzzle of the starter's pistol.

Your forefinger starts the watch when you see the flash from the muzzle. Watch the race, not your watch. When the runners approach the finish line, say 10 meters away, stop watching the race and focus your attention on the finish posts. Count torsos passing between the posts until you get to the place you're timing; as soon as "your" torso breaks the finish plane, stop your watch.

STILL do not look at your watch, even for a second, but instead remain focused on the torso you picked. The runners may come back in their lanes, or may go wandering off--you have to know the the number of the person that you timed. Be sure you have that number--writing it down is good--before you ever look at your watch.

I would be surprised if there are any hard and fast rules for any meets where there is one person timing a place and that same person is the only person responsible for picking the place as well. Thirty years ago, before FAT timing was common, championship meets would have timers and placers and there would be multiple timers for each scoring position. The judges determining place always took precendence over any "time" discrepencies. You don't need times to properly determine the outcome of a track meet.

To cry you MUST time place, misses that fact that you don't have to time at all. Make sure that you have officials that assign places. In most dual meet situations, how you obtain hand-times is far less important. If times are critical, then get your FAT timing system.

Practically speaking, most dual meets are timed by volunteers who are parents and they simply won't do it if they have to time by place. They might do it today, but they simply won't make themselves available in the future.

In our dual meets,our head timer assigns the first 3 places, which are the only scoring positions in dual meets. Our timers do time lanes in races with lane finishes, but we do not use times to assign scoring places. For dual meets, in races with non-lane finishes (800m+), we use one plunger to time every finisher.

In our invitationals and championship meets we use FAT timing.

In your mid-week dual meet situation, it is not financially possible to run every meet up to IAAF standards. You are going to make a number of compromises relative to perfection. Get your priorities straight. Make sure places are assigned properly in every event. In so far as possible, try to provide a time for every athlete so that they have a basis for comparison with former and future performances. Do not use times to assign scoring places.

old sweephanded timer wrote:

David Katz wrote:

Place

=highest ranking american official says place

thread over

seriously by lane... where exactly is the lane 3 start for the 5,000 and the gal in lane 8 runs how many laps?

Bob Hersh is an IAAF Vice President.

Great thread. When I coached in New England, we did dual and tri-meets timing by PLACE. I was originally a road racing distance guy who knew little of track meets. Whoever first explained this method to me must have explained it well, and I never timed by lane. I moved out to Southern California, and I now coach HS in a well-regarded and highly-competitive league. I'll be hosting a dual meet for the first time in March, and I'm trying to convince anyone who will listen to time the sprints by place. They think I'm nuts. Again - this is in an area that sends kids D1 for T&F at a very high rate. A few of your replies were well-spoken. Besides quoting NFHS 3-9.2, I'll be using some of your arguments in defending my choice to be the new guy doing things differently. Thanks.

You time by place. End of story. Your head timer is wrong. I coached for 20 years and have been timing since high school (in the 70's). You time by place.

readtherulebook wrote:

And please be sure to round your hand times up to the next tenth. Never record hand times to the hundreths. For example, 13.11=13.2. There are so many incompetent coaches out there. All you have to do is read the rule books.

Say it again for the umpteenth time. Read the rule book.