Delia Frias misses the start of her race and is DQ'd from advancing in the 3200 from CIF

I'm joking a little, would have taken guts, poise under stress, and helpful meet admin...but 10:15 would have made it and she's a 9:50 2 miler. The earlier 1600 was a cruise in 4:54 for the 4:35 runner.

I might have made argument in protest that she would have made it this way, if they didn't hold her for heat 2.

But how can official FORCE her to wait until heat 2, if she was actually listed in heat 1?

What if she had just started running 45 seconds after the other girls had started, that still would have been legal, right?

Where were the coaches or teammates? The team had multiple runners in the 3200. It's seems someone should have been paying attention. I wonder who protested? Newbury Park?

She must have been out of the stadium. Between check-in announcements, teammates warming up, order of events, etc. someone would need to be completely oblivious to miss the start.

The thing most frustrating to me about this is that it is EASY to make a time schedule for the CIF post-season meets. I make them for my team and their families every year. Probably takes me about 20 minutes to do so?

CIF is run by boomers. They mean well and have tons of knowledge, but technologically...well, they are boomers. Making/sharing a google sheet is just too much apparently.

You absolutely shouldn’t be able to show up after the start and race after the race has started. Is this serious?

HS officials are dying to find a reason to DQ people at meets. They have no power in the rest of their lives so they have to flex what little powers they have. If she was actually 45 seconds late I am sure every person in the race new as well as coaches, parents and fans. So someone had to be saying something and they could wait. If she raced in the next heat they could have let that slide too but of course they didn’t. They aren’t thinking about the athletes and the “spirit” of the rules but rather the letter of the law, not what’s best for the kids.

Yes, it's a serious question.

If a runner is on the start line, and the gun goes off, and the runner just stands at the start line for 45 seconds, and then starts running, that's perfectly legal, right?

So what's the difference if the runner is say, back at the 100 meter start line (which is 100 meters away) and then walks up to the 3200 start line 45 seconds later, and then starts running, what's the difference?

If you think that's not allowed, then please state the exact rule that would disallow that.

What’s the difference? How about everyone else in the race knowing who the entrants are when the gun goes off. Do you think them knowing Frias is out has zero impact on the strategy/tactics to then just let her start afterwards whenever she wants?

C'mon, man. You're assigned a starting position. You're required to be on the line, in the proper position, and *set* before starting the race.

If you do all that, and then you choose not to move for 45 seconds after the gun, fine. She was never in a set position. She just missed the race. It happens--rarely, I'm glad to say.

One thing I have noticed: A solid percentage of athletes are wearing earbuds when they're at track meets. Aside from the long-term hearing damage that comes from having those blasting away for hours every day, there's also a greater possibility of missing important immediate stuff like, say, announcements at a track and field meet.

Pretty sure it‘s spelled Dalia

she missed the start to the race. nothing anyone can do once she missed it. It totally sucks, but it’s not the officials fault.

She'll be just fine. The world doesn't begin and end with hs track.

Am I the only one who feels the coach is more than partly responsible here?

Line at the porta potty makes the most sense. Mis-judging a bathroom seems plausible. I've had close calls there trying to stay hydrated in warm weather and being nervous especially.

She has a good case for an appeal. If her actions lead to a DQ because she was late for her heat then they should not have let her run heat two.

I have two questions:

1. Was she allowed to run heat two and was told she could still advance if she met the advancement standard for the heat.

2. Was she told we’ll let you run heat two, but your still disqualified.

If it’s number one I believe she a good chance to get this over turned.

She is senior who has probably run over 100 meets. The coach has dozens of other athletes, including some that are in their first divisional championship. It's unfortunate she won't run 3200 at CIF but it seems like a lot of people want to blame someone else for Dalia missing the start.

Yes, the team has other athletes, but there isn't only ONE coach for the entire team. And besides, Dalia is by far the star of the team, and stars should get extra attention, even if they screw up or it's their fault. (NOT because stars DESERVE extra attention, but because it benefits the team.)

Do you think if LeBron James was missing 2 minutes before the tipoff of an important game that his coach would say, "Well, if LeBron doesn't show up that's his problem"? No way, he would send people to go find him.

Also, another girl runner from Dalia's team was also in the 3200. So at a minimum there was one person on the team who was aware that Dalia was missing.

She was told something similar to number 1, but my understanding is that the person who told her that didn't actually have the authority to make that decision.

She was in heat one, and in heat one only. So she either could run heat one, or run no heat at all. But a last minute switch of heats isn't permitted.