Used to be epic battles at conference meets, with guys doubling back just to score a few points even if not in contention at the win. Now the best people either sit out waiting for nationals or do off events like it’s some kind of circus. Some teams barely show up at all. Football ruined conference meets.
Because these conferences have so many teams now, the conference championship meets are now more like the NCAA championships where a small number of high caliber athletes can yield a high team finish.
There’s the same number of points available but 5-6 more teams in some cases.
At the ACC meet I was shocked at how little attention there was to the team score. They never put it on the board until late the second day, and from there only occasionally. The public address announcer wasn't mentioning it at all, even though the men's race was very close and still undecided at the final event.
I kept thinking that if the public address announcer had made a big deal out of the points race and there was a separate digital board with the constant tally, there would have been greater pressure on the teams to play to the result. Instead I was the only person in my area who was referring to the team score. Everybody else was staring at their phones and totally oblivious.
It would have really helped if Cal and Stanford had announced major intention to win the thing. That would have inspired pride from the holdover ACC schools.
Devaluing the conference meet is ridiculous given the reality that the vast majority of these schools will prioritize NCAAs where they'll score next to nothing.
At the ACC meet I was shocked at how little attention there was to the team score. They never put it on the board until late the second day, and from there only occasionally. The public address announcer wasn't mentioning it at all, even though the men's race was very close and still undecided at the final event.
I kept thinking that if the public address announcer had made a big deal out of the points race and there was a separate digital board with the constant tally, there would have been greater pressure on the teams to play to the result. Instead I was the only person in my area who was referring to the team score. Everybody else was staring at their phones and totally oblivious.
It would have really helped if Cal and Stanford had announced major intention to win the thing. That would have inspired pride from the holdover ACC schools.
Devaluing the conference meet is ridiculous given the reality that the vast majority of these schools will prioritize NCAAs where they'll score next to nothing.
Looking at the start lists before the event, it was obvious Stanford didn't care about winning the event. However, I don't blame them. Are you going to ask Amy Bunnage to fly across 3 time zones to compete when nationals are so close? These conference re alignments are awful for these west coast schools.
Looking at the start lists before the event, it was obvious Stanford didn't care about winning the event. However, I don't blame them. Are you going to ask Amy Bunnage to fly across 3 time zones to compete when nationals are so close? These conference re alignments are awful for these west coast schools.
Odd. Bunnage has no trouble with 3 time zones to get her qualifying time at BU. Or 22 time zones to run at Oz Nats.
For real, it appears she is nursing an injury, which they wanted to protect for nats. The tree got excellent running from Dudek and Kennedy though. (who also dealt with time zones)
Clark has always used Willis&Whitaker in creative ways to keep them interested and fresh. They have both run everything from 400 to mile and relays.
They can all score at nats. W&W, Kennedy and Dudek + DMR.
Bizarre statement. How is a 3 hour flight worse than a 7 hour bus ride? Conference Realignment doesn't impact track or XC like it does for every other sport.
Used to be epic battles at conference meets, with guys doubling back just to score a few points even if not in contention at the win. Now the best people either sit out waiting for nationals or do off events like it’s some kind of circus. Some teams barely show up at all. Football ruined conference meets.
There used to be epic battles at dual meets once too. Personally I think it's a loss for the sport to have almost eliminated them and fill a schedule with multi team meets with "no team score" as the web pages all say. But I also think it's just the real high power programs, the ones that hope to do well, maybe win, at Nationals that don't care about their conference meets. For schools in conferences like the Sun Belt, Ohio Valley, Northeast, etc., Conferences where you might occasionally have an individual qualifier for Nationals I'd bet the season's goal is usually to do well at your conference meet.
Bizarre statement. How is a 3 hour flight worse than a 7 hour bus ride? Conference Realignment doesn't impact track or XC like it does for every other sport.
ever heard of time zones? ask nfl teams what they think about flying across country for games. it's hardly a bizarre statement.
in order to make conferences try an d compete. There needs to be a pathway to Nationals for winning a race and that would make them try harder. the only ones that will race hard is the ones needing a qualifying time
Yes it is. West coast teams are on the east coast multiple times indoor. East coast teams spend most of the outdoor season in California and Oregon. You are literally talking about a conference meet which teams travel to 2 days in advance regardless if flying or driving. Time zones are not a factor.