Mallard Creek 4x400 DQ'd from North Carolina state meet for celebrating; team loses meet by 2 points

These are highly skilled and competitive athletes performing at the top of their game. The emotions are raw and real. These people are asking them to cross a finish line and shut it down instantly, all while people are yelling and cheering them on. This kid did nothing wrong but celebrate a huge moment in his and his teammates lives. There was nothing disrespectful here. If we are going to take huge moments away from these incredible athletes like this then it needs to be across the board....You win, you walk off the track, go behind the stands and then you can celebrate. Good Grief. We had the same type of issue in a huge regional meet where we live a few weeks ago and it was unreal but thankfully cooler heads prevailed and didn't DQ anyone, despite some old school rule mongers wanting to.

I am a starter who is just getting along in the process. The older guys 70 plus and cranky ladies drive me nuts. Kids are having fun and working hard. I truly believe there is also some underlying racism. I do not say that lightly. Seeing this really pisses me off. it’s not ok to DQ for this.

Really dumb. Pro sprinters are celebrated for their post race celebrations. But these HS officials expect kids to just cross the finish line and promptly leave the stadium before showing any emotion. First of all, that completely ruins the experience for these kids. Winning a state track meet is a huge accomplishment and entitles these athletes to have a moment in front of their family, friends and teammates to celebrate their victors. Then, the double standard with pro track is ridiculous. It is like requiring HS basketball players to only do a slam dunk with the force necessary to guide the ball into the whoop and any excess force is an automatic ejection from the game. And like all DQs in track, the penalty should only be used when an infraction clearly caused a change in the outcome of the event.

Completely ridiculous. Track officials using their tyranical power because they have nothing else in their lives.

The official who made the call is black and the athlete is black.

Time to get Rev Al Sharpton on the case

It is obvious why this young man was dq'd. the old white officials don't understand the culture

The official was in the wrong and the athlete was in the wrong. Two things can be true at the same time.

We all know that the celebration rules in track and field are pretty clear. We all learned this when we ran. However, there’s been a bit of a culture shift where certain athletes just can’t resist making races about themselves. But sadly, the official made it about themselves too. But the rules have mostly stayed consistent. Celebrate like this, even if it’s minor, and you run a real risk something bad will happen. When I ran, teams sometimes got a DQ if a runner raised the baton before crossing the line. It was seen as taunting and unsportsmanlike.

With that said, there is no harm in an official taking an athlete aside and using it as a teaching moment. Disqualification is far too punitive for this level of celebration. Sometimes people learn more from appropriately measured consequences (which here, should have been a simple admonishment), versus punishing an athlete far too vindictively as well as punishing the entire team.

Plus, I’m not sure we can take the official at their word that there was a previous warning. There’s no corroboration of that. It’s just as likely that they knew they went way over the top but needed to come up with some justification to keep their job.

I don’t think there’s even a question that both are against the rules. But the question to me is proportionality in punishment. There is zero chance either should ever be a DQ. Take the athlete aside and talk to them. And do it both times. There is no requirement that the official make it all about themselves just because it’s a second time for a very minor transgression.

I’d like to see evidence of this. I highly doubt that.

Same. I’ve wondered all along if there’s a race component to this. Old white men that feel the need to make black athletes behave while ignoring whatever a white athlete does is a tale as old as time.

Why?

Why is it always high school meets where this over-officiating happens?

💯

It very arguably meets two on the list. And the officials clearly thought so too. The issue is that there is no universe where disqualification is the appropriate remedy for what actually happened.

If you just watch the race video (which id hope you would do before chiming in) you'd easily see the official who made the call was black. No racism here - just stop that nonsense! These officials are former athletes and coaches who love the sport. You can debate the call all you want but race didn't play a part of it.

nc.milesplit.com

Mallard Creek 4x400m Taunting DQ Costs Team 8A Team Title

Jason Creasy

Jordan wins the NCHSAA 8A Boys team title after a Mallard Creek disqualification on the final race of the day for taunting.

Open link

I just rewatched the race myself and noticed that the anchor of the 2nd place team immediately raised his finger up in celebration as soon as the official DQ'd first place. That is wild! How dumb are you to celebrate after the other team was just DQ'd for celebration.

Seems like it would have been a good no call.
This must be enforced for the whole meet or not called at all.

The intent of the rule was not violated.

Why does North Carolina have 8 different classes for track & field? WTF?

This is the first year its been like this. Its incredibly stupid and no one that i've talked to likes it.