Editor's Note: We changed the title of the thread to be more descriptive. Original title was "Mallard Creek DQ." Here is an article about the DQ: http://charlotteobserver.com/s...
Here is a new video showing what the runner in question did earlier in the meet after winning the 300 hurdles. The official claim she warned him after that win even though what he did in that win seems fine: https://x.com/Sheena_Marie3/st...
Admittedly, I don't know the context but why are most the officials old guys w/apparent sticks up their a$$es? Lighten up and let kids be kids. Should take a very extreme act of celebration? to = a DQ and even then, there should be a lot of 1st amendment protection; especially with teens.
Video from both the finish of both events has been posted, and doesn't show any of the things you are assuming while admitting you haven't seen it.
In the 300 hurdles he repeatedly yells "Right" after seeing the time (sub-36, nearly a full second PR, the only NC athlete under 37 this season), flexing toward the stands and photographers past the end of the straightaway, then turning and yelling "Right" again as a teammate runs up and hugs him. (It's possible what he's yelling isn't "Right" but it is not any English-language profanity I can think of, and it most definitely is not directed at any competitor - they're all behind him.) At the end of the 4x4, just before crossing the line he holds up the baton in his left hand, and his right hand with an open palm (I've seen it suggested, probably correctly, that he was showing his fingers up indicating the ring they would clinch by winning that event.) He doesn't say anything at all before, within a few seconds, he's reacting in disbelief, and still without saying anything, to someone apparently telling him he's going to be disqualified.
As was said up thread, "Why all the warnings? Why is what this kid did during any of his races something this sport is trying to prevent?" And I would add to that, if he was warned after the hurdles that the amount of shouting he was doing was excessive, I don't know how you take from that "don't lift your hands up before the finish line."
If you want to defend the disqualification decision, defend what actually happened, in the context of the other 287 events that happened at the NC state meet last week, and the 1000s of other high school races conducted under NFHS rules this year where people have celebrated while finishing. The fact that high schoolers use profanity too frequently, or that elite sprinters often engage in staredowns with opponents at or just after the finish, is not relevant to this situation where none of those things happened.
Just looking at post on social media - looks like all sorts of runners were doing some sort of celebration before the finish. If you're going to call it, call it consistently.
If by “consistently”, you mean a warning first and then a DQ on second violation, what other example(s) can you provide?
It is a shame for medals and championships to be decided by non-athletic components of the sport, especially for the team members who were not involved with the on-track celebrations. When the “No on track celebrations” was stressed at the coaches meeting, we made sure our athletes were aware of the emphasis. It’s unfortunate that not all coaches paid attention.
So theoretically...or maybe not theoretically....if the foursome who ran in the event started jumping up and down in a victory celebration they not only could have been dq'd but should have been dq'd....at least according to your interpretation?
What the kid did shouldn't have been even noticed unless it was a gang sign or something like that.
The linked story references a third warning which was given to all 4x400 teams. “And then, Bailey said, an official did warn all the teams en masse before the 4x400 not to celebrate prematurely.”
In my opinion, three warnings is a great example of preventative officiating. If the 3 warnings were ignored then the blame belongs elsewhere.
except it apparently isn't easy for the officials because people celebrate before the line all the time, including in that very same meet, and didn't receive warnings or DQ's.
This is just grown adults who like to feel powerful and important holding teenagers to higher standards than collegians and professional athletes are held to. You're apparently allowed to show more emotion in golf than in track and field.
Nope. It was easy for the officials to know it was wrong. They were trying to be nice. They didn't want to DQ anyone. They gave lots of warnings, including to all 4x4 teams just prior to the race. At some point you actually have to enforce it or no one will follow it.
You can still celebrate in track. If he raised his hand AFTER crossing the finish line he would not have been DQ'd. That's all he had to do. Go a few more meters and then show your five fingers. That is not a standard that is too hard to follow. I tell my kids to run hard through the line every single time. Every coach I have ever had has said the same. No one has ever said, "you know, if you are about to win state, it is ok to slow down before the finish and raise your hand to show how many titles you've won in a row. Got to look good for the cameras."
Can you think a little bit about what you're posting just a bit more.
My old high school was favored to win the state meet one year. They failed to win when after getting a DQ for one runner having one mismatched sock during a qualifying meet.
Watching the video, I can understand why a warning was issued after the 300m hurdles. However, I can't understand how the 4x400 resulted in a disqualification even after a warning. There's no equivalency in what happened at the end of the two races.
Ok. I watched the 300 hurdles. He didn't do anything worthy of a warning. He CELEBRATED his win. I'm all for people showing joy when they win.
I'm all for DQing people who taunt.
He didn't taunt.
Both celebrations were fine. There shouldn't have been no warning after the hurldes and no DQ after the 4 x 400.
Look, if there was some past history of teams fighting, etc, I could understand officials saying - don't do a damn thing or we'll shut down the meet - but that's not the case here.
Watch the two celebrations here:
There’s been national discourse surrounding Mallard Creek’s disqualification in the 4x400m relay in this past weekend’s NCHSAA 8A State Championships. The DQ cost them the team title and disrupted what would’ve been a phenomenal feat of 5 straight titles.
except it apparently isn't easy for the officials because people celebrate before the line all the time, including in that very same meet, and didn't receive warnings or DQ's.
This is just grown adults who like to feel powerful and important holding teenagers to higher standards than collegians and professional athletes are held to. You're apparently allowed to show more emotion in golf than in track and field.
Nope. It was easy for the officials to know it was wrong. They were trying to be nice. They didn't want to DQ anyone. They gave lots of warnings, including to all 4x4 teams just prior to the race. At some point you actually have to enforce it or no one will follow it.
You can still celebrate in track. If he raised his hand AFTER crossing the finish line he would not have been DQ'd. That's all he had to do. Go a few more meters and then show your five fingers. That is not a standard that is too hard to follow. I tell my kids to run hard through the line every single time. Every coach I have ever had has said the same. No one has ever said, "you know, if you are about to win state, it is ok to slow down before the finish and raise your hand to show how many titles you've won in a row. Got to look good for the cameras."
Who else was given warnings? From coverage I’ve seen on other social media it seems like neither Nyan Brown nor his coaching staff were actually warned following the 300mH, which contradicts you and makes things seem like officials were trying to cover their own ass. A lot of what has been conveyed from either side is hard to substantiate and is mostly just hearsay, so I arrive at the initial points, why were Nyan Brown and Mallard Creek on all accounts being held to different standards than other teams, and why is this behavior something that the NCHSAA is seemingly so adamant about punishing. I implore you to think deeper than, “Well they were supposedly warned once so they should’ve learned their lesson.” I would just like to know why the NCHSAA is apparently anti-celebration and emotion in only this sport in particular, and no other sports are officiated this way (Which they shouldn’t be).
Watching the video, I can understand why a warning was issued after the 300m hurdles. However, I can't understand how the 4x400 resulted in a disqualification even after a warning. There's no equivalency in what happened at the end of the two races.
Ok. I watched the 300 hurdles. He didn't do anything worthy of a warning. He CELEBRATED his win. I'm all for people showing joy when they win.
I'm all for DQing people who taunt.
He didn't taunt.
Both celebrations were fine. There shouldn't have been no warning after the hurldes and no DQ after the 4 x 400.
Look, if there was some past history of teams fighting, etc, I could understand officials saying - don't do a damn thing or we'll shut down the meet - but that's not the case here.
I think he got DQ'd because he held up the five fingers to the runners behind him. If he has held them up facing towards the finish line, I'd totally agree, but I think having the five fingers behind you is borderline. I don't think it should've been called. But I can see why it was called.
it's excessive and stupid reffing -- not what the rules are meant to be used for -- BUT if you are told in the scratch meeting don't celebrate on the track, adapt or risk this outcome.
one year in college soccer NCAA decided they were cracking down on cuss words. i get wide open then skim a shot off the top bar against P-P. [EXPLETIVE]. shouted at myself. not at anyone. yellow card. we'd been told before the season it was a point of emphasis. week or two later they quit calling it. but you knew what the ground rules were going in.
Goes from being at worst a teaching moment about grace (even that's pushing it) to a weird controversy that's now permanently tainted for the team that should have won, the undeserving team that won, the spectators, and the fans themselves. Can't get it back, either.
to be fair, expecting kids to not celebrate state is insane. i know big meets may get more nit picky like college meets, may have high level officials who know the rules and not parents or coaches flagging or calling false starts, but 4-6-1 is meant to be extreme or taunting. fire extinguishers for shoes, guys getting in faces, looking sideways.
i mean, to me, i understood half the point as either "potentially destructive" (throwing batons, stuff done to the track or equipment), limiting time consuming rehearsed celebrations that might need to be cleaned up or cleaned out, or "avoiding fights."
i try to know right where the rules lines are and i'd find it hard to not celebrate winning state. that's silly. and i'm not taunting, picking a fight, messing with the track, tossing equipment, or delaying the next heat meaningfully.
Announcements were made at the coaches meeting (prior to the start of the meet) that ANY on-track celebration may result in disqualification. How many warnings are sufficient?
You know, this. Okay—sure, maybe there were announcements at the beginning. And, sure, maybe there could have been more reigning it in by the coaches and athletes.
But, come on—we want robots out there not getting excited about not just track and field, but winning a race on the track?
Bunch of old white man officials nonsense. Old white male officials, get off my dang lawn telling the yutes these days to get off your dang lawn! <shakes middle-aged white man fist>
last, was this the last race of the day? 4x4 in the biggest class, boys? meet's over. barring trying to start a fight or a truly destructive celebration, they aren't holding up the meet, and are we saying you don't get to celebrate winning state on top of 4x4? at the very end? that's too much.
it doesn't need to be policed. when we won area and i was on the 4x4 that squeaked it, we dog piled at the line.
it's like if they said at graduation not only can you not excessively cheer your graduate, you can't applaud at the end or any natural break.
Most people are more concerned with the morality of this disqualification, and whether consistent standards are being upheld across all events. Countless events yesterday saw celebrations before athletes crossed the line, with no consequences being issued to anyone besides Mallard Creek.
As an official in a different state, I agree that it seems that the enforcement of the rules seems to change from meet-to-meet, if not from event-to-event within the same meet. I have absolutely no idea how a DQ was issued here when you have the incidents from Michigan at Penn Relays, Langon at BU indoors, etc. allowed to stand. It's maddening seeing such an inconsistent standard.
I don't agree with the DQ here, and I think regardless of whether someone does or not, I don't see how you can argue the behavior was worse than in the two instances mentioned above. If anything, college kids should be held to a higher standard than high schoolers, in my opinion
This stuffy tennis type culture is not what track and field needs. It is common sense at this point. The old heads don’t want to get it right. Strangely enough Penn Relays doesn’t seem to have this problem