How can this be remedied for Indiana student athletes next year? And the year afterwards?
Almost 30 boys broke nine minutes in the Boys 3200m Invitational race. It was a very good race and an incredible finish up front. Yet this race alone could have been an even better race.
why does indiana do this? what does having this rule gain them? I don't understand why they don't want people competing in hs sactioned competitions more than 300 miles away
I would guess that if Rich decided to not follow the state association rules, that the state association's would just decide to never sanction his meet again. That would kill the meet. So, he is not going to risk that. Rich is going to follow the rules of sanctioning with each state association and do his best to make sure that ineligible athletes don't compete in the meet.
Arcadia is an incredible event, Rich and his team conducts itself impeccably. Rich did not wrong this particular athlete.
At least four other indoor national champions from Indiana this winter did not compete at Arcadia. Did IHSAA deny a waiver for those four runners? Or did those runners' schools not even try to get a waiver to compete in this great, great event?
(BTW, the weather conveniently cooperated, raining only after Friday night competition and throwing down cats and dogs Sunday morning, while I was on my way to the Hollywood/Burbank Airport)
Read my post again. You didn't understand it. I said that Rich would not break rules by allowing ineligible runners because that would likely put his meet in jeopardy.
How can this be remedied for Indiana student athletes next year? And the year afterwards?
Almost 30 boys broke nine minutes in the Boys 3200m Invitational race. It was a very good race and an incredible finish up front. Yet this race alone could have been an even better race.
Indiana can do better.
The race was great with or without him. Other states also don't allow their athletes to compete in these meets as well. There were kids in the Seeded race that definitely belonged in the invitational as well. Just be thankful there are opportunities for these kids to compete at high levels. Calvin has competed at meets, including Arcadia, in the past. They know the rules and they did this last year. It's over now. He can run for his high school this year or run unattached like last year and go to some bigger meets. I think he's going to be just fine.
From the local indiana runners board and according to Seitz themselves
"They traveled to the meet because the IHSAA approved the waiver so they bought plane tickets and got housing arrangements. The IHSAA then denied the waiver about a week before the meet. That training was done, that money was spent, and those vacations were taken. I personally think the IHSAA might want to watch out for some legal ramifications from approving and later denying that waiver. And for what? Just about every other state welcomes their elite athletes showcasing their hard work on a national scale and the IHSAA continues to be stuck in the mud. I get that this doesn't affect 99% of runners in the state but for those few that it does affect, it really does suck."
Arcadia is an incredible event, Rich and his team conducts itself impeccably. Rich did not wrong this particular athlete.
At least four other indoor national champions from Indiana this winter did not compete at Arcadia. Did IHSAA deny a waiver for those four runners? Or did those runners' schools not even try to get a waiver to compete in this great, great event?
(BTW, the weather conveniently cooperated, raining only after Friday night competition and throwing down cats and dogs Sunday morning, while I was on my way to the Hollywood/Burbank Airport)
Read my post again. You didn't understand it. I said that Rich would not break rules by allowing ineligible runners because that would likely put his meet in jeopardy.
Please accept my apology. I didn't intend to accuse you of anything.
We both applaud Rich and the Arcadia Invitational (right?).
From the local indiana runners board and according to Seitz themselves
"They traveled to the meet because the IHSAA approved the waiver so they bought plane tickets and got housing arrangements. The IHSAA then denied the waiver about a week before the meet. That training was done, that money was spent, and those vacations were taken. I personally think the IHSAA might want to watch out for some legal ramifications from approving and later denying that waiver. And for what? Just about every other state welcomes their elite athletes showcasing their hard work on a national scale and the IHSAA continues to be stuck in the mud. I get that this doesn't affect 99% of runners in the state but for those few that it does affect, it really does suck."
Thank you for sharing.
These rules affect more than just a small number of elite athletes in Indiana, Yes? No?
One of my favorite meets to watch for the past several years is Chris Williams' Dublin Distance Fiesta:
where runners are seeded by times and not by class into a couple hundred heats spread over two long days and nights. This is an incredible event, a very well run event. Check it out. Could a small army of student athletes from Indiana plan to compete here to shoot for personal bests at 800, 1600, and 3200? Without a waiver?
NOTE:
TWO WORLD RECORDS BROKEN IN 2025! Most Girls Under 6:00 @ 1600 = 371! (Old record was 333 @ '24 DDF) Most Boys Under 5:00 @ 1600 = 591! (Old record was 567 @ '24 DDF) PR Capital of the WORLD - 2981 PRs set in '25!
More than elite athletes are affected by IHSAA regulations. Every Indiana student athlete is affected. Yes? No?
Are you omniscient? Are you claiming that a waiver was approved on 2/3? Pleases share it.
You admit that you DON"T KNOW.
I choose to believe the team that I greeted in the airport, and the anonymous poster who has done impeccable research.
I don't believe you.
You are believing a family who is calling out an entire reputable organization. Think about that. And by posting this, you are also calling out an entire reputable organization. You clearly have some bias here. Are you actually the father of the denied athlete?
Unfortunately, it would take the IHSAA to change its bylaws, which is highly unlikely. The IHSAA prefers that Indiana high school athletes in all sports compete only against other Indiana athletes.
To the IHSAA's credit, they have loosened the reins a bit. They used to have a strict 300-mile radius rule, under which Indiana athletes could not compete against athletes whose high school was more than 300 miles from Indiana's borders. This meant that if a school from Texas came to a meet at the University of Louisville, five miles from the Indiana border, Indiana schools could not compete. The IHSAA even enforced it, and used as a specific example at a coaches clinic, that if an athlete from Texas came to just triple jump, an event not even contested by the IHSAA, that the whole meet would be ineligible for Indiana athletes. They revised this rule now, though, limiting Indiana athletes from traveling to compete outside a 300-mile radius unless they get a waiver, as Seitz did.
10 years ago, I had a national-level athlete at the Indiana school I was coaching and tried to get him into the Penn Relays. I talked to the director at the time, and he said most of those bylaws were put in place by midwestern states back in the 1920s, when you had to travel by train to get to the coast, and now, 100 years later, they don't want to change them.
I have some information that might help put this entire situation together for those following along. I am going to keep this factual and lay out the timeline, the history, and the inconsistencies. I'll save my opinion for the end.
The Timeline On February 3rd, 2026, the IHSAA officially approved a waiver for Calvin Seitz to compete at the Arcadia Invitational. The approval came directly from the IHSAA and was sent to Springs Valley's athletic director. The waiver specifically named Calvin Seitz, listed Boys Track and Field as the sport, named the Arcadia Invitational as the event, and listed the event dates of April 10-11, 2026.
Following this approval, the Seitz family purchased non-refundable travel. Family airfare, lodging, and a rental vehicle totaling thousands. This was not a spur of the moment trip. They did what any reasonable family would do after receiving official approval from their state association.
On March 19th, Springs Valley's coach registered the school on Arcadia's registration portal. Entries were released around April 2nd-3rd. Then on April 4th, roughly 7-9 days before the meet, the Arcadia meet director informed Calvin's coach that the IHSAA had reversed course and was "not granting approval for Indiana athletes to compete at the Arcadia invitational this year." Rich was clear and fair about it: if the IHSAA grants approval and signs off in the NFHS portal, Calvin is welcome. If they don't, he can't allow him to compete and risk jeopardizing the eligibility of every other athlete at the meet. Rich was protecting 691 schools from 35 states and a meet where 38 national records have been set. He had made no mistakes, IHSAA however did make a mistake.
A formal appeal was drafted and sent to both Rich Gonzalez and IHSAA Commissioner Paul Neidig. It laid out the full timeline, referenced the February 3rd mistaken approval, noted the thousands in non-refundable travel, and proposed a simple solution: a commissioner's waiver allowing Calvin to compete. This would protect the tradition of Arcadia, protect the validity of other athletes and the potential records set at the meet, and not leave the Seitz family holding the bag for a mistake the IHSAA made.
The IHSAA Commissioner did not respond. Multiple voicemails and emails went unanswered in the week leading up to the meet. Calvin and his family flew to California because the travel was non-refundable. He did not compete.
The History Here is where it gets interesting. The IHSAA's Rule 10 limits out-of-state competition to within 300 miles of the Indiana state line. Arcadia, California is obviously well beyond that limit. This means the waiver that the IHSAA approved in February technically should never have been approved in the first place. Arcadia does not fall within the scope of what that waiver process is designed for.
But Indiana athletes have been going to Arcadia and representing their schools for decades. The first records I can find of an Indiana athlete competing there go back to around 1999. Here is what the enforcement history actually looks like for the past 10 years:
2016: Ben Veatch of Carmel High School competed at Arcadia. No waiver to my knowledge. No suspension. No consequences. The IHSAA apparently had no idea. This is also the case from 1999-2015. They had no idea. 2017: Gabe Fendel of Hamilton Southeastern. His high school coach proactively contacted the IHSAA to make sure it was okay. This appears to be the first time the IHSAA even became aware that Arcadia existed. Fendel competed. He was suspended. 2024: Two Indiana athletes went to Arcadia that year, and two very different things happened. Cameron Todd of Brebeuf Jesuit Prep School applied for a waiver and competed. No punishment. Will Conway of Floyd Central did not even get a waiver. He just showed up and raced. Also no consequences. 2025: Calvin Seitz competed at Arcadia representing Jasper High School. He ran 8:54.78 in the 3200m. A waiver was obtained that year and the IHSAA had no issue with it. 2026: Calvin Seitz, now at Springs Valley High School, does everything by the book. His school's athletic director requests a waiver. The IHSAA approves it on February 3rd. The family purchases travel. Then the IHSAA pulls the approval a week before the race. The commissioner goes silent. Calvin does not compete. The athlete who followed the process is the one who got punished. Not only that, but punished in a way unique to all athletes since Indiana athletes started racing the Arcadia 3200m in 1999. I have no previous accounts I can find of a waiver being pulled a week before the race after approval 2 months out. And this does not even account for the girls. I am confident the list of Indiana athletes who have competed at Arcadia over the years is considerably longer than what I have listed here.
Five of the Top Eight Here is a stat that should make the IHSAA stop and think. Five of the top eight fastest boys 3200m times in the history of Indiana high school track and field were run at the Arcadia Invitational. An out-of-state event. An event that, by the IHSAA's own rules, is not even legal for Indiana athletes to attend.
The Double Standard Consider Nike XC Town Twilight, held in Indiana. It is an NFHS-sanctioned meet hosted by an in-state high school (Terre Haute South Vigo in Indiana). Athletes from across the country travel to Indiana to compete, and they are welcomed with open arms by Indiana. The Arcadia Invitational is also an NFHS-sanctioned meet hosted by an in-state high school (Arcadia High School in California). It is structured identically. But when one Indiana athlete wants to travel out to compete at a meet with the exact same structure, suddenly there are roadblocks and bureaucracy. When athletes come into Indiana, everyone is welcome. When one of Indiana's own wants to leave, it becomes a problem.
My Opinion The IHSAA made a mistake when they approved the waiver in February. That is understandable. People make mistakes. What is not understandable is how they handled it afterward. They pulled the approval a week before the meet, left a family on the hook for thousands, refused to answer their phone or respond to emails, and offered no path forward.
Calvin Seitz is the Gatorade Indiana Boys Cross Country Player of the Year. He won the 2 mile at New Balance Indoor Nationals. He is one of the best high school distance runners in the entire country. And he missed a historic 3200m race at Arcadia because his state association could not figure out its own rules and then went dark when asked to fix it. The IHSAA owes the Seitz family an explanation and a reimbursement. And the prehistoric rule itself needs to be revisited. If five of the top eight times in state history come from a meet that your own rules say is illegal, maybe the rules and your unawareness of them are the problem.
The old guys that run these associations like IHSAA should redact themselves
I choose to believe the team that I greeted in the airport, and the anonymous poster who has done impeccable research.
I don't believe you.
You are believing a family who is calling out an entire reputable organization. Think about that. And by posting this, you are also calling out an entire reputable organization. You clearly have some bias here. Are you actually the father of the denied athlete?
Anonymous Poster, I am not hiding who I am. Who I am is irrelevant. But ....
I am a High School All American from 1980. Finished second at Arcadia, second at Golden West Invitational (when it was Golden), second at International Prep Invitational.
For Golden West, I was invited on Sunday, following the California State Meet, to compete six days later. For IPI, I was invited on the Sunday after Golden West, to compete six days later in Chicago-ish. I competed on behalf of and wore my school uniform. Sacramento is a wonderfully supportive environment and a great place to train, both for those in High School and for mature adults.
I am offended that an athlete can be restricted to a limited number of out of state competitions a limited number of miles outside of the state borders and that a waiver is required to do so. I respect the body in general and challenge that body to expand opportunities for all of the student athletes.
I'm very surprised there haven't been more lawsuits against various HS athletic federations. I've seen many, many rules that are straight-up archaic. 50 different federations, each with their own rules is already a mess. These rules do not benefit athletes. Simple as that.
This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.
Many states have the same rule. The association is placing academics above athletics. I applaud them for it. You should not be calling them out for possibly doing something that you were told by a family who you don't even know.
I’m Calvin’s father and we have the proof of the approval from the IHSAA this year…Calvin did not compete last year for the traditional school team but was part of the Jasper “unified track” which does fall under IHSAA. I’m sure you’ll probably turn this as well, but Calvin still wanted to be part of a team and help kids that aren’t as fortunate to give back to the sport. Maybe if you talked to Calvin and knew the whole story you might show a little compassion but you clearly have a problem with my son and/or our family. We aren’t fighting for our son only but for other athletes in our state currently and for those future athletes to have an opportunity to compete at Arcadia (at least have consistency on the issue) or and races like this. IN only grants 2 waivers…most use 1 for one of the indoor nationals meets and others usually don’t get an opportunity to use the 2nd one with current formate
I’m Calvin’s father and we have the proof of the approval from the IHSAA this year…Calvin did not compete last year for the traditional school team but was part of the Jasper “unified track” which does fall under IHSAA. I’m sure you’ll probably turn this as well, but Calvin still wanted to be part of a team and help kids that aren’t as fortunate to give back to the sport. Maybe if you talked to Calvin and knew the whole story you might show a little compassion but you clearly have a problem with my son and/or our family. We aren’t fighting for our son only but for other athletes in our state currently and for those future athletes to have an opportunity to compete at Arcadia (at least have consistency on the issue) or and races like this. IN only grants 2 waivers…most use 1 for one of the indoor nationals meets and others usually don’t get an opportunity to use the 2nd one with current formate
How can one help to expand opportunities for out-of-state competition for student athletes in Indiana? Who can one contact to, friendly-like, petition on behalf of student athletes in Indiana? Has anyone within Indiana helped or offered to help?
Are you omniscient? Do you know for a fact that IHSAA did not approve a waiver on Feb 3, 2026 for this young man to compete at Arcadia?
Pretty sure indy man is the embodiment of the id of the old white men (because it’s definitely old white men) who are running IHSA and yanking approvals after approval with no due process and yelling at kids to not get off their lawns, but dangit get off that neighbors lawn and go back inside because kids are to never be seen or heard.
Parents should sue. If they had means to seek an injunction beforehand, probably should have.
The olds running these organizations are like the HOA lawn ladies measuring their neighbors’ grass and writing fines for chipped paint on mailboxes.
