My school's dirt track has finally been replaced. I looked through the fence the other day and noticed that preparation had been done for the 2 horizontal jump runways, but I could only see prep for the 8' board on both. I asked the project manager, and she said they'll be painting the other take-off stripes, but not installing boards (12', 24' 32'). NFHS rules state that it needs to be a board ("...provides a firm base...").
Does anyone have a good argument, besides the fact that the rules say so, for us to be able to demand an actual takeoff board for triple jump? It seems to me that just using the track surface with a painted stripe would be rougher on the jumping leg and tougher to spot a line foul. Thoughts?