Indiana Wronged Athlete for Arcadia 2026

Yet they allow boys to compete as girls.

Make it make sense.

Make it fair.

He had nobody to advocate for him?

I wonder?!

Who could've petitioned on his behalf to reverse that reversal? I know only the most superficial details of this wrong done to this young man. I hope this is the last time it happens to him or to anybody else in Indiana wishing to compete in the highest level of competition in the whole US of A. Or from any other state with such rules. I can understand that at some time there was a real reason for such a rule. Who knows when? And who knows why?

But this highly qualified young man missed an historic 3200m race. How can one, someone, ensure this doesn't happen again?

By the way, there were lots of superlative performances at Arcadia, many from athletes from very far away from Southern California.

Doubt he ever wa approved.

That would, to me, be very, very disappointing. He competed last year in the very same meet. You're suggesting that his "team" may have forgotten what it knew last year?

I do appreciate, Indy man, an insider's perspective.

Did IHSAA reject his waiver or California? Curious because if Indiana reject the wiver then he knew he wasn't competing before he left. If California rejected the entry after he was there I am sure there is more to the story.

The way I see it, if Indiana didn’t conform to daylight savings until 2006, it will probably be another 20 years until their athletes will be able to travel to California to run a track meet!

we need to find out if there is more to this story, as this situation seems pretty remedial. Has anyone from Indiana ever competed at Arcadia?

This particular young man competed last year at Arcadia and ran 8:54.78. For the same school in Indiana.

Correction. Looks like the particular young man represented Jasper High School at Arcadia in 2025 and currently represents Springs Valley High School in French Lick, about 25 miles away. Could that difference change regulations? IHSAA regulations didn't apply last year, but do this year?

Also, looks like IHSAA has very strict limitations on out of state competition. Per Milesplit Indiana in :

in.milesplit.com

A Big Change in IHSAA Policy For Competition

Rick Sluder

The IHSAA has made a major policy change impacting travel of out-of-state teams competing in Indiana.

Open link

.

Rule 10 governs "Interstate Contests and Practices Requiring Special
Attention". The rule designates how far Indiana teams can travel outside
of Indiana to compete in high school contests in season at 300 miles
from the state line.

Yikes! Still, this is dated Jun 30, 2022. Note that IHSAA applies much less stringent limits on schools visiting Indiana for competition.

The details from IHSAA Executive Committee, Thursday, June 23, 2022, Swan Lake Resort - Plymouth, Indiana

RULE 10 – INTERSTATE CONTESTS AND PRACTICES REQUIRING SPECIAL ATTENTION
10-1 Out-of-State Contest Limitations Page 49
10-1.1 Out-of-State Contest Limitations
The address of out-of-state schools participating in a Contest against a Member School
as well as the site of such Contests must be within Six-hundred (600) miles round trip
travel is from the Indiana state line and shall be sponsored or co-sponsored by a
Member high School.
Member Schools may only participate in an out-of-state Contest if:
a. the site or venue of a Contest is within (300) miles from the Indiana State line;
b. the Contest is against a school that is a member of a state athletic association; and
c. the event is sanctioned as needed by the IHSAA through the NFHS sanctioning process. (rule 10-1.3).
10-1.2 In-State Contest Limitations
Out-of-state schools who participate against an IHSAA Member School in a Contest in Indiana must:
a. be a member of their state’s athletic association;
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b. be in “good standing” with their state’s athletic association; and
c. the event be sanctioned as needed by the IHSAA through the NFHS sanctioning process. (rule 10-1.3).
A motion to approve was made by Dave Worland; seconded by Chris Conley; motion approved 15-2-1 with Stacy
Adams and Mike Whitten opposed and Jeff Doyle abstaining.

If I were making a guess I would say his new school didn't do what it needed to do.

I hear ya.

Should have never gone back to French Lick & given Chase a call at JSerra.

Not much sympathy when the kids waiver was denied a week before the meet. He and his parents knew at that point he wasn't competing.

Welcome to running. Why we live and train in L.A. is because our national OGs spent money on themsleves. They refuse to rent a nice place for us back home and tell us L.A. is where the sport is centered.

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.

This is probably the greatest post I've ever read

considering he won the new balance 2 mile nationals, he would have been one of the top competitors at the meet and most likely would have run a historic time. IHSAA handled this terribly.

"not granting approval for Indiana athletes to compete at the Arcadia invitational this year."

How many other highly qualified athletes from Indiana couldn't compete at Arcadia?

How does one petition IHSAA to reduce the restrictions to allow the best Indiana athletes to compete at Arcadia without requiring a waiver? Or out of state more than twice? Or beyond 300 miles from the Indiana border?

A chance encounter by a soul who finished well in the 1980 state championships and the Golden West Invitational of the same year over the one-mile distance meets in a California airport with a young soul attempting to race to similar fame within the distance running high school fraternity of the modern running era, 46 years later, which seems more than just coincidence. You brought together a conversation where a Ray Kinsella and Terence Mann work to absolve "Shoeless Joe Jackson" and the Chicago "black socks" of their crimes, except here the Arcadia protagonist committed no crime. Excellent post, Pedro.

Also seems like people who are talking about this are closer to the situation than they’d prefer to go public with.