It's Official. California to add 4x800 to State Meet in 2023. Predictions?

Maybe we should start thinking about adding them to those meets?

What about the DMR or 4x200?

Sweet love of God NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Relays are for relay meets. At those events, have at it. Knock yourself out. Somehow combine the shotput, pole vault, long jump and 3200m all in one event, so it is a true team relay, be my guest. We got enough events for the championship event already. Let's not turn this into swimming. How many people would watch World Cup if it took 8 hours to play a game? How many hours can my son say, "Relax, it will be over soon." ?

Are you aware from 1936 Olympics through 1956 Olympics, all 800m Olympic gold medalists were U.S. men. Are you aware the three U.S. men who won four 800m Olympic gold medals from 1936 to 1956 were 400 800 men, men with 400 or 440 times of 45.xx to 47.xx 440, all on cinder with heavy shoes. You do know that 44.xx to 46.xx 400m speed is ideal for 800m athletes. If not California high school 4 x 800m, what is your suggestion to return U.S. 800m men into gold medalists? It seems like there are three choices and only three choices for U.S. T&F: 1) Shorten XC to 3K to encourage more 400m athletes to participate in XC, 2) nationwide, every state has 4 x 800m as a standard event, 3) reduce XC to 3K and add 4 x 800m to all 50 states plus D.C.

The CIF state meet isn't some random dual meet or invitational. The state meet is THE championship meet that not only contests individuals but more importantly TEAMS, to see what is the best team in the state. It is beyond me as to why you would argue we need less team events (relays) in the premier contest of what the best team is. in 2017 Long Beach Poly won the state meet team title with 3 women. In the early 80s Wendy Brown out of Woodside did the same thing - BY HERSELF. Is that what we want the state meet team title to come down to? Absolutely not. We need more relays and we need to make the state meet more relay centric. By doing so we will not only improve individuals, especially in sprints, as we can see from Texas, but also bring the state meet back to what it should be - a team contest between the best teams in the state with NO DIVISONS.

Why are you arguing this when the 10k literally exists? The 4x800 is 7 minutes long. The 4x200 is less than 2 minutes long. The 10k is about 27 minutes long. Based off of this, we should be removing individuals events that take longer and adding relays instead (we shouldn't be removing any events but you get the idea)

Michael Granville and Obea Moore would be polishing their gold's today if they could have raced a 4x800

>>Why are you arguing this when the 10k literally exists?

In the name of all that is holy, what are you talking about? We are talking about adding events to the Cal state HS track meet. The 10k does not exist in standard HS track, and God forbid, never will.

>>
The 4x800 is 7 minutes long.

When on God's earth has the 4x800 been run in 7 minutes in high school? Boys and girls?

>>The state meet is THE championship meet that not only contests individuals but more importantly TEAMS

No, I totally disagree, teams are not MORE important, track events are still individual, but yes I understand others can feel differently. I watch whatever streams I can of the California sectionals, masters and state meet. I am just watching how the individuals do, and I never care *at all* about who is winning the team score. I am only aware there is team score because they mention it, but I could totally do without it. As you mention, team scoring in big track meets is kind of hokey anyway. It doesn't feel right. Team scoring at a high school dual meet, where each school has essentially equal event participation makes a lot more sense than at the state championship. So I care much more about who finishes 3rd in the state 1600m than who wins the team title.

Too each his own, but the state meet meet having a 4x100, 4x200, 4x400 and 4x800 sounds like something Wes Craven would have come up with. Actually that probably would have terrified even him.

Spoiler alert: It's not gonna be won by one of the traditional cross country schools everyone is thinking about. It's gonna be Long Beach Poly for both boys and girls by a mile. This message board will lose interests shortly after.

Oh, I thought we were talking about world champs and the NCAA for some reason. Oops. Agree though, if the 10k ever gets added to standard HS track ill probably kill myself or something

I think we might just need to agree to disagree. This really just comes down to what is more important at a championship meet: the team or the individual? I think it should be the team but you feel differently.

I think that sounds amazing. Maybe California wouldn't be ass at relays if there were more of them AND they actually mattered point wise

This is EXACTLY what i've been saying. If it isn't Poly than it will be Wilson. The logic CIF had behind adding the 4x800 was to make a distance-centric relay a part of the state meet. THAT IS NOT WHAT WILL HAPPEN. Literally look at both the national record and the state record of 7:28 by Poly - it was set by a quartet of 400/800 runners. I was saying this while CIF was discussing adding the 4x800 - at the time I also said that the DMR should be added instead, to actually represent a distance relay. Obviously that was never going to happen, but I just wanted to mention it now.

Two of those guys were cross country superstars and much more accomplished in cross country than at 400 meters.

>>I think we might just need to agree to disagree. This really just comes down to what is more important at a championship meet: the team or the individual? I think it should be the team but you feel differently.

My point is if the team is important, you are doing it all wrong. You should really make it a team sport, i.e., have the track season playoffs be teams matched up in dual meets (or get 4 or 8 teams together on the same day, then score each one against each other in a dual meet). I do like the team concept in track. Waaaaaay back when I was in high school, my school went almost 3 years without losing a dual meet in a very competitive league. Track was big at my school, and were competitive in every event. It helped that our school's culture was that the best athletes in football did track, which helped the sprints and throws, and we were a distance powerhouse. And we had great coaches in hurdles and pole vault. But, even though we were possibly the top dual meet team, we would score less than 10 points at southern sectionals at that time. We just lacked the superstars.

The way team scoring is done now at large track meets makes it an entirely different game, and sooo far off from what I consider the track team concept of a dual meet that to call that a "team championship" doesn't interest me. As you mentioned, it is possible for one person to win a team championship. Silly. Just silly. Adding relays is a very small step but to me, not in the right direction to solve the problem because still you have to be top 6 in the state to even score a point. And that's the problem, and you aren't solving it. You want the team to count? Then make it about the team and have them fight it out in dual meets. You want it to be about individuals, then do it like we do now. Both can't truly matter at the same time unfortunately, so if I had to choose I would stick with what we have. No more additional relays, it doesn't help solve the problem.

Sure but recently they added a coed 4x400 so why not add more events in high school too?

Do you think adding an event to the State meet is for the winners? I would hope it’s to include more athletes in the meet.

You don't think the NPHS twins, Sahlman and Seymour have a shot?

What about Steeplechase, Hammerthrow, 5000m, 10,000m, Mixed Relay, Heptathalon, and Decathalon? Don’t bring up “strict rules” if you don’t point out the obvious.

That will be in addition to their 1600 and 3200 duties? A school like LB Poly can make a team out of 400 meter specialists that will not have to run the open 400 final or 4x 400 until the next day. It is simply much more doable.

The Youngs don't run in CIF state series. They run professional time trials instead.

I like how some of you are seeing how 4 x 800m fits into a T&F schedule. The intent is not to grind a school's best 1500m to 3200m runners into hamburger. U.S. high schools have so many teenagers capable of sprinting sub-55 400m. There are high schools with ten plus sub-55 400m athletes. We need to have more sub-55 400m guys racing 800m. No need to wear out the best 1600m & 3200m lads.

I’m in NH and we have the 4x800 at our state meets, MOC and New Englands. It is one of the first races of the day. I’ve also seen it run at Louck’s in NY.

I enjoy watching it. The distance is long enough for there to be some drama.